


Unbreakable Destiny

by morau



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU where the females in Naruto don't get shafted because Kishimoto can't write females for shit, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Dai-hachi-han | Team 8 (Naruto)-centric, Endogamy, F/M, Families of Choice, Gen, Hyuuga Hinata-centric, Hyuuga Neji Lives, Hyuuga angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Incest, It's going to be pretty gen for a while, M/M, Multi, NejiHina endgame, Self-Indulgent, Team 8 Bonding, Team as Family, The slowest of burns for NejiHina, background kakairu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-10-04 05:22:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 61,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17298572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morau/pseuds/morau
Summary: Hinata does not cry at her mother’s funeral.Officially, Hyuuga Hideko is reported to have died of illness.At seven, Hinata looks into the vacant eyes of her mother’s corpse, and wishes the world had been kinder to Hyuuga Hideko.Hinata does not cry at her mother’s funeral, for her mother is finally free.





	1. A promise to the dead

**Author's Note:**

> Endgame: Neji/Hinata. If you have a problem with Hyuugacest, do not read.
> 
> This is a somewhat self-indulgent fic that attempts to bring even a little more justice and depth to Hinata besides being Kishimoto's punching bag for cheap feels. Team 8 Bonding.
> 
> Also unbeta'd so typos and sudden tense changes may occur because I struggle with that. Tags may change as story progresses.

_Be kind, Hinata. Be kind if you can help it._

_The world is so unkind already. Especially our clan._

_Sometimes being strong, being gifted, is a curse, Hinata. Do not let yourself become trapped, like me._

_Promise me._

\---

Hinata does not cry at her mother’s funeral.

Officially, Hyuuga Hideko is reported to have died of illness.

At seven, Hinata looks into the vacant eyes of her mother’s corpse, and wishes the world had been kinder to Hyuuga Hideko.

Hinata does not cry at her mother’s funeral, for her mother is finally free.

\---

Hinata is not naturally gifted, and now that her sister has activated her Byakugan, the difference in their innate talent is clear.

When her father tells her that she must battle her sister for the position of Heir, Hinata remembers her mother’s face on the rare days when she smiled.

_Promise me._

 At eleven, Hinata hesitates, and while the taste of defeat is bitter, the air she breathes afterwards tastes sweet.

\---

The world is unkind, the Hyuuga moreso.

 She has been trained in juuken almost as soon as she was able to walk; she is capable of beating up the boys that force her to her knees, their jeers loud as they mock her ( _weird, creepy_ ) eyes.

But she doesn’t. She is shaking and her cheeks are wet but she can’t tell if they’re tears of humiliation or self-pity. It’s not so different to being in the dojo with her father anyway.

And then _he_ appears. The boy from the markets.

The world is unkind, the Hyuuga moreso, but _he_ is kind.

He’s not capable of beating up the boys that force her to her knees, but he tries anyway. He doesn’t know her, has nothing to gain from helping her.

The world is far less kind to him, but he tries anyway.

They knock him down, but he refuses to stay down.

She is pulled away from him when Kou catches up, but she keeps looking at the boy with hair the colour of the sun, keeps looking for him even when they turn the corner back towards the Hyuuga compound.

At seven, she clings to the tiny spark of light in the darkness and begins to understand what her mother meant.

\---

She graduates the Academy not long after she is no longer the Heir.

Her removal has not been made public yet, so Hinata stands outside the dojo as Kurenai learns that her new charge is a Hyuuga reject.

Hinata steels herself for Kurenai’s disappointment, because the adults always are.

She doesn’t expect Kurenai’s embrace after they’ve left the compound.

Her heart stutters in her chest. Kurenai is warm and smells like flowers.

At twelve, Hinata realises she cannot recall her own mother’s embrace, the rare moments of warmth lost to the haze of time.

She can’t stop the harsh intake of breath and the sob that escapes her throat.

Kurenai doesn’t let go, and Hinata hopes she will never forget this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending of Naruto pissed me off. Naruto and Sasuke do NOT deserve Hinata and Sakura (seriously, Sasuke and Sakura have zero relationship foundation I CANNOT EVEN with Kishimoto). Naruto and Sasuke are both idiots that deserve each other and should not inflict themselves on the other characters. Also killing off Neji so you can shove NaruHina in everyone's face is like ?????
> 
> Also Teams 8, 10 and Team Gai deserve more love.


	2. Compliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She had been determined to be content, to make the best of the lot she had been given. She learns that knowing this is how it all ends doesn’t soften the blow.

Hyuuga Hideko loved children, and had always wanted children of her own, even when she was young.

She knew her marriage partner was not to be her choice, and it was never going to be her choice. She told herself she could accept this, that she could channel her love into her children, shield them as best she could.

She had been determined to be content, to make the best of the lot she had been given.

She tried to bring honour and recognition to the Hyuuga by working harder, longer, at honing her Byakugan and doing well on missions. She became a chuunin when she was still younger than most, and her clan members praised her often.

Then she fell in love with Hyuuga Hizashi.

She tried to defy the odds, and pleaded with the elders. She begged on her knees to be given the Juin, to be marked with the Curse Seal.

Her efforts were in vain. As the most talented, unmarked Hyuuga female, she was to be wed to the Heir, a man with the same face as the man she loved. Strong Byakugan genes from both parents, to be passed onto the next generation of the Main House. Talented Hyuuga females were not permitted to be marked with the Juin until they produced at least one child. The Juin would cause female fertility to plummet.

For a fleeting moment, she considers blinding herself, mutilating the talent so prized by others.

She doesn’t, because Hyuuga Hizashi’s life is in the hands of the Main House. They won’t kill him, but every shinobi knows torture is worse than death.

A part of her dies on her wedding day. She bites her tongue speaking insincere words, and her empty vows taste like copper.

She had been determined to be content, to make the best of the lot she had been given. She learns that knowing this is how it all ends doesn’t soften the blow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is essentially my headcanon for why Hinata is the only Hyuuga female we see actually outside the Hyuuga compound doing shinobi things, and why she never gets branded with the Cursed Seal even after she's basically disinherited in favour of Hanabi. The Juin reduces female fertility to the point that they basically cannot get pregnant, but male fertility is basically unaffected.


	3. Daihappan

Kurenai has some misgivings about whether her new team will pass her genin test.

She also wonders why Sandaime decided to assign what would be an ideal tracking team to her, a genjutsu specialist. She suspects the Hokage is trying to keep all the supervising jounin on their toes.

After all, she might just have to put in some real effort to squeeze out some teamwork from her charges. Between the kikaichuu, the Inuzuka ninken, and the Byakugan, none of her charges would be easily susceptible to genjutsu.

She counts her blessings that she isn't in charge of Team 7 though. She’s seen that particular lineup and that is a trainwreck everyone's happy to leave to Kakashi.

\---

“You have one hour to take or damage my hitai-ate. You may use your kunai, shuriken and any standard tools and weapons you wish. This test is for me to assess your aptitude to become proper shinobi. Keep in mind that at least one of you will be going back to the Academy if you fail to complete the mission.”

Kurenai raises three fingers. “Don't forget your Academy training. Pay attention to the details. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture.”

“Your test starts...now!” Kurenai drops her hand in a sharp motion and disappears in a cloud of smoke.

\---

Kiba engages first, to absolutely no one's surprise. His speed is not bad, for a new graduate, but Kurenai easily sidesteps him. Akamaru barrels in from behind and Kurenai drops to a crouch so Akamaru smacks into Kiba instead.

Hinata is hanging back, trying not to get in anyone’s way. Shino has hidden himself well. Of the three, he has some of the best scores of his graduating class. Kurenai will not be surprised if he takes advantage of Kiba and Akamaru’s attacks as distractions.

She’ll just have to knock both of them down a peg.

Kurenai pulls back towards the edge of a small lake, forming seals rapidly.

“Suiton: Suishouha!”

The water from the lake pulls upwards, sweeping through the training ground with a roar. The Water Palm Wave swallows Kiba and Akamaru into its path and knocks them right into a thicket of trees, flushing Shino out from his hiding spot as well.

Hinata manages to avoid being swept up by the wave since Kurenai wasn’t aiming for her in the first place, and leaps down from a high branch, her Byakugan activated and ready to strike with her juuken.

Staying just out of reach, Kurenai takes the opportunity to assess Hinata’s taijutsu level, deflecting Hinata’s strikes with a kunai in each hand.

As one would expect of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata’s foundation is solid enough that Kurenai makes a note to herself that she’ll need to get Gai or Kakashi’s advice later in building Hinata’s speed and endurance.

Her attacks would also be more effective if she had a direction and planned her moves, Kurenai assesses silently, deflecting another strike. Hinata fights like she is sparring on autopilot, like if she throws enough punches she may just land one by accident. Her expression is dark and distant, looking through Kurenai, the field, like she’s somewhere else entirely. _Something to look into later_ , Kurenai thinks to herself.

“Hinata, look at me,” Kurenai says sharply, twisting out of the way of another palm thrust.

Hinata starts, as if jerking awake from a dream. The distant, grim look in her eyes recedes, and her gaze becomes more tentative, but present.

“Right now, your opponent is me. This isn’t a duel, this is a mission. Just because you have the Byakugan, doesn’t mean that’s the only weapon you can use.” Kurenai says, flipping backwards onto a tree branch, forming seals again.

Hinata's eyes widen and she leaps out of the way to evade.

“Sensei, don’t forget about the rest of us,” a voice drawls from behind Kurenai.

Kiba strikes at her with a kunai, and Kurenai smiles at the look on his face when she begins to dissolve into her Mizu Kawarimi instead.

He recoils, leaving himself open for a second. A second is enough for Kurenai to whip herself around him and solidify behind the boy, her fingertips making contact with the back of his head and Akamaru’s.

Kiba slumps, eyes wide and unseeing as her genjutsu takes over.

One down, two more to go.

\---

Shino is clever, but he is young and his kikaichuu techniques are relatively slow at this level.

Kurenai draws Shino out from another hiding spot with a Mizu Bunshin, waiting for the kikaichuu cloud to descend almost triumphantly on her doppelganger before tapping Shino from behind.

“Not bad,” she says as she puts him under with a blast of chakra, overwhelming and stunning the limited amount of kikaichuu still inside Shino.

Her Mizu Bunshin dissolves and transforms into a sticky puddle. The trapped kikaichuu hum angrily in their sticky, watery Mizuame prison. It won't hold them long, but a delay is enough.

One more to go.

\---

If there is one basic shinobi ability that Hinata is particularly good at - whether innately or by effort - it is erasing her presence.

The heat of the sun is at its peak, and Kurenai is ready to conclude the genin test. She deliberately comes out into the open, and forms the seals for Suishouha again.

She senses someone lunging at her from her left, and twists out of the way, aiming the wave at Hinata, who is barely managing to fight being swept under under the rush of water by concentrating chakra to her feet.

Kurenai sprints across the water surface as the rush of water breaks over the grove of trees. She readies her next blast of chakra, when Kiba rushes in front of Hinata with a snarl, claws barely grazing Kurenai’s arm as she leaps backwards to avoid the swipe.

Kurenai is inordinately pleased, a smile spreading across her face. Akamaru is nowhere to be seen, which means -

Kurenai dodges another swipe from behind, and grabs the Kiba?Akamaru clone’s arm, launching him across the clearing. The yelp of indignation and a loud swear tells her it’s Kiba, so the Kiba in front of Hinata is Akamaru.

Hinata comes at her again, and Kurenai can feel the difference in Hinata's strikes. She isn't moving by rote anymore and she's beginning to mirror some of Kurenai's movements instead of sticking strictly to Hyuuga-ryu.

But Kurenai knows a distraction when she sees one, and breaks her movement pattern to catch Hinata by the forearm, using the force of Hinata's motion to propel her into an incoming Kiba and Akamaru.

The three of them go down like bowling pins, sliding into the mud left behind by two Water Palm Waves.

“You have let your guard down, sensei.”

Kurenai can feel her skin crawling, literally, as she is swarmed by kikaichuu. She can also hear the whistle of a kunai hurtling towards her and she’s very, very impressed.

“Not quite,” Kurenai says with a smile as she dissolves into her Mizu Kawarimi and the kikaichuu fall away, scrabbling for purchase.

“Time’s up.”

\---

Kurenai watches Hinata and Kiba pick themselves up out of the muddy grass. Kiba grumbles loudly, Hinata stammers out a mostly coherent apology and Kiba just plunks Akamaru into her arms like he’s allergic to apologies. Akamaru nuzzles Hinata’s collar and yips enthusiastically.

Shino manages to exude brooding disgruntlement without uttering a single word as he descends from his hiding place to join the rest of them.

Kurenai solidifies, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Your mission was to either take or damage my hitai-ate before the time limit. But none of you were able to. Convince me why I shouldn’t send the lot of you back to the Academy.” Kurenai says.

“If we could take your hitai-ate just after graduating, you'd be a crappy jounin,” Kiba grumbles as he gives Akamaru a deep scratch behind the ears.

Kurenai masks her chuckle with a huff and reaches out to grab his ear and pull firmly. “Says the one who was one of the bottom three of the graduating class.”

“Ow, ow, sensei!” Kiba whines, pulling away. “At least I wasn’t dead-last.”

“Is that something to be proud of?” Shino cuts in.

Kiba immediately raises his hackles to snarl at Shino, who stares right back, radiating superiority.

“Back to the point,” Kurenai interrupts firmly. “If it makes it easier for you to focus, you can try to convince me which one of you should be sent back to the Academy instead of who should stay.”

“Perhaps,” Hinata’s almost stammers, soft and halting, “I should go back to the Academy then...Kiba-kun and Shino-kun are much stronger...”

“No way!” Kiba objects. “Hinata lasted the longest against sensei, and woke me up from genjutsu. No way she deserves to be sent back to the Academy!”

“I concur.” Shino folds his arms in front of him. “That is because without Hinata, Kiba would not have been able to break my genjutsu as well.”

Hinata gapes at them, stunned, and it breaks Kurenai’s heart a little.

“That’s right, bug-boy! You should thank me for not leaving your pompous ass unconscious!” Kiba crows too loudly for a guy who got knocked out first.

Shino aims an unimpressed head tilt in Kiba’s direction. “As if you would even be able to get as close to sensei’s hitai-ate as I did. That is because you are loud and completely unsubtle.”

“Excuse me? If it weren’t for Hinata and Akamaru playing distraction while I woke you, you’d still be passed out on the grass like a day-old carcass!” Kiba jabs a finger in Shino’s face.

Kurenai closes her eyes and inhales deeply through her nose.

“So what I’m getting from this is I should send you two back to the Academy then,” Kurenai says pointedly at Kiba and Shino. Kiba’s mouth immediately opens to argue-

“No!” Hinata’s interruption surprises everyone. “The only reason I had time to wake Kiba-kun at all is because sensei has been going really easy on me the whole time, and the only reason she took out Shino-kun and Kiba-kun first is because they’re stronger than me and more of a threat, and I could never subdue sensei on my own, so that’s why I woke up Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun to help distract sensei so we could wake Shino-kun, and....”

Blood rushes to Hinata’s face when she realises she’s been babbling for a whole minute and everyone’s staring at her in shock.

“S-so, really, Shino-kun and Kiba-kun shouldn’t be sent back to the Academy,” Hinata says faintly, having run out of steam. Kurenai would bet good money that that is the longest Hinata has ever spoken out loud in her life.

Akamaru barks in agreement, and Kiba blinks before grinning. “Yeah, what she said.”

Shino is silent for a moment before adding, “we won’t vote any of our party returning to the Academy. Not even Kiba.”

“The fuck do you mean, ‘not even Kiba’!” Kiba squawks indignantly.

Kurenai raises an eyebrow. “Even if that means all of you fail for insubordination?”

Kiba opens his mouth, but Shino replies first. “Then we shall graduate again and do it better the next time. That is because self-promotion by betraying teammates is a despicable act.”

Kiba looks like it physically hurts him to not disagree with Shino’s stance on principle but he stays silent, which for him means an angry grumble but no actual retort.

Hinata is still rather pink in the face but nods in agreement.

Kurenai feels something warm expand in her chest and finally allows herself to smile as proudly as she feels.

“Good answer. You’ve passed the test. You are now officially Team 8. We will begin training for missions tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave Kurenai a Water/Suiton affinity because you'd think Kurenai, as a jounin (and not a tokujo), would have more than genjutsu in her skillset. She technically outranks Ibiki, Genma, Inuzuka Tsume, Anko, etc, who are listed as tokujo. And yeah, I'm pretty sure Sandaime would assign teams that also challenge their supervising jounin in more than just patience haha. Seriously, we need justice for the Naruto ladies kthx.
> 
> The jutsu used in this chapter are actual jutsu (i.e. appears in either the manga or anime), except the Mizuame (Water Candy) technique, which I made up.


	4. Shadows at Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata may be a child, but she understands, acutely, that she is not, was not, worthy of Hyuuga Hizashi’s sacrifice.

For a child, a day is long.

For a child that no one seeks out, not even to berate, to train, to put to work, a day is like an age.

Hinata presses flowers not because she particularly likes flowers, but because it gives her an excuse to leave the compound. If she chooses only to press a specific flower that day, she can search for hours and keep the darkness at bay a little longer.

Sometimes she’ll even catch a glimpse of Uzumaki Naruto, the boy with golden hair and bright blue eyes. He forces the villagers to look at him, and refuses to be invisible. He graffitis the Hokage rock and sends people into a frenzy.

She doesn’t approach him. She won’t taint his light.

Eyes follow her everywhere when she is at the compound. The weight of their stares, their whispers, is a condemnation of her existence. A flawed product. The Main House despairs her weakness, her lack of talent, and the Branch resents her for the calamity that cost them a beloved leader.

If she were strong, then protecting her, protecting her Byakugan, would give his sacrifice more meaning. If the Branch had to be forced to be human shields for the Main House, then at least it would be protecting a strong talent.

Hinata may be a child, but she understands, acutely, that she is not, was not, worthy of Hyuuga Hizashi’s sacrifice. 

She doesn’t want to be seen.

She doesn’t want to be noticed.

She is nothing like Uzumaki Naruto.

She wants to leave her clan, to distance herself from this family.

Perhaps it’s a selfish, shameless thing to wish for. She has never known the hunger of an empty stomach, or gone wanting for clothes that fit. No shopkeeper would dare to refuse to sell a mask to a Hyuuga. 

She is nothing like Uzumaki Naruto. She won’t taint him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're hitting a bit of canon divergence (or at least, alternative interpretations) of why Hinata does not reach out to Naruto when they're still little kids. She still worships him, and watches him, but she's in a dark, dark place as this is set before Kurenai comes into the picture. I also wanted to explore/give her more motivations/reasons why she does certain things beyond "I want to be more like you Naruto-kun *blush* and never give up".


	5. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurenai makes plans to turn her team into well-rounded, competent shinobi (instead of overpowered demigods), starting with Hinata.

Kurenai is mulling deeply over her training plans over a generous plate of takowasa and an even more generous bottle of shochu when she senses a familiar chakra.

“Already getting into it?” Asuma takes the seat opposite. “The genin test was just today.”

“Some of us have to actually do some work to keep up with the freakishly talented,” Kurenai downs another cup of shochu. “And no, I didn’t mean you.”

“Wow, that hurts.”

Kurenai scoffs and returns to her notes. “Go away.”

“So prickly. You’re not still sore that I stood you up back then?”

Kurenai’s brush jerks across the page. “You will regret ever mentioning that again, _daddy-issues Asuma_.”

Asuma opens his mouth but he starts choking, which is impossible since he hasn’t even eaten anything. He grabs at his neck, retching, trying to get enough air and expel whatever was lodged in his throat.

He finally coughs up something into his hand, a bloody and sticky shogi piece. He turns it over, and etched into the white tile is a middle finger.

The genjutsu breaks.

Asuma wakes up face-down on the table in his own drool and Kurenai is nowhere to be seen.

\---

Kurenai is walking off her irritation when she crosses paths with Gekkou Hayate.

They were from the same graduating class, and while not particularly close, Kurenai admires his kenjutsu. Kurenai never really had any aptitude for swordsmanship, even though her father did.

“Kurenai-san,” Hayate tips his head in greeting, coughing into his hand.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Kurenai falls into step with him.

“I’ve been asked to be a proctor for the next Chuunin Exams.”

“How is Yuugao doing?”

“On another mission, though I haven’t been told any particulars. I hear you have been assigned your first genin team.”

“Yes, they just passed their genin test today,” Kurenai sighs dramatically. “Their abilities are so different to mine that I feel like I’m back at the Academy doing homework.”

Hayate smiles faintly in amusement. “I’m sure Yuuhi-sensei would laugh himself sick if he could see you now.”

Kurenai tries to elbow him in the side in retaliation; he casually blocks her.

“I should turf one of them onto you so you can share the fun,” Kurenai threatens jokingly, then her expression changes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hayate looks at her warily.

“You were friends with Hyuuga Hideko, weren’t you.”

Hayate’s gaze sharpens. “Her daughter is on your team?”

“The elder, Hinata. The younger daughter, Hanabi, is likely to inherit instead.”

Hayate doesn’t look surprised to hear that in the least, and that in itself piques Kurenai’s interest. The Hyuuga are secretive, and anything they reveal about clan workings to the rest of the village is generally only disseminated by the Hokage. The Hyuuga officially ousting a firstborn in favour of a secondborn for the first time in living memory will undoubtedly cause a stir when the announcement is made. The village still remembers the Hyuuga-Kumogakure affair.

Hayate doesn’t volunteer anything, and Kurenai doesn’t push. “I’d like you to help me with improving Hinata’s taijutsu between missions when you have some time free. Her foundation is solid, but her chakra control is ahead of the others thanks to the Byakugan. She is able to do water surface walking, and stayed above the water even in combat. I’ll have my hands full pushing Kiba and Shino in that area for now, and my taijutsu is baseline.”

Hayate looks at her consideringly. “You don’t think she should focus on training her Byakugan instead?”

“I highly doubt we will get any assistance from the Hyuuga in that regard. If she wishes to train her Byakugan on her own she can do so if she wants, but even so, building speed and endurance will only make the juuken more effective.”

Hayate remembers the kind, determined kunoichi Hyuuga Hideko used to be before she retired to marry the Clan Head and her slow descent into madness.

“I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 is not the only team who can have more than one teacher. Srsly. Also it always intrigued me when Hayate actually stepped in to stop Neji from killing Hinata, even though he certainly didn't interfere with people were getting their frikkin' arms blown off and limbs crushed (I mean, you could argue that Shino may not have had intent to kill but Gaara certainly frikkin' did).


	6. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, it's the little things that count the most.

Hinata startles awake from a dream.

Kiba turns over blearily. “Hey, you okay, Hinata?”

“Sorry, it was nothing,” Hinata whispers. “Please sleep.”

Kiba looks at her for a moment through barely open eyes, but takes her word for it and lets his eyes close and breathing even out. The three of them have practically been living in each other’s pockets for a month now, but Kiba’s easy trust in her still makes her breath ache in her chest.

She checks the time. She pulls her jacket on and leaves the makeshift tent slash hammock spread across several large branches to distribute the weight, making her way across to where Shino is keeping lookout.

“It is too early,” Shino says without looking at her. “There is still two hours.”

Hinata sits down next to him anyway, only keeps a hands-width of space between. She hugs her knees to her chin. At first, she wouldn’t allow herself to sit down beside them until invited, always keeping herself to the fringes. She still hesitates sometimes. It’s still hard for her to remember that for Shino and Kiba and Kurenai-sensei, Hinata does not ever have to ask. For Hinata, tonight feels like a small victory.

They sit in silence. The air is humid in this valley, even in the middle of night.

He doesn’t ask her if she’s okay, and Hinata is grateful. Words don’t always come easily, and for so long no one had any interest in anything she had to say.

She doesn’t realise she’s dozed off until Shino taps her on the shoulder. “Shift change,” he says, always frugal with words.

She nods. “Goodnight,” she says quietly, and doesn’t watch him walk back to the tent.

There’s a familiar hum next to her. A handful of kikaichuu circle a metal flask. It’s still warm, and Hinata opens it to find her favourite tea, perfectly brewed.

Some bonds are forged in combat with blood and sacrifice.

But some, some bonds are woven together from a thousand tiny acts of kindness, of acknowledgement. A shoulder to lean on. A comfortable silence. A warm cup of tea. An embrace. A simple act of trust. A puppy in her arms. The crawl of kikaichuu across the pulse point of her wrist, like a bracelet, to remind her _you’re not alone_.


	7. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The art of the ninja is the art of killing.

Team 8 kill for the first time on a C-rank mission, protecting a cargo transport.

They are sloppy and distracted - a civilian dies on their watch.

They get ambushed by nearly three hundred bandits as the cargo transport is ready to cross the border. There is no way to subdue and capture so many of them.

Afterwards, they have to burn Kiba’s clothes, so saturated with blood and torn flesh the fabric continues to drip. The red won’t come clean from Akamaru’s fur for a while. Kiba will taste copper in his mouth for a long time.

Afterwards, they hear the screams of Shino’s victims for days, echoing in the back of their minds. Kikaichuu are not made for mercy killing.

Afterwards, Hinata can’t see for a while, unable to bear the strain of using the Byakugan for so long at once.

The Byakugan won’t allow her to forget the faces of those she’d killed with her bare hands, with her juuken. She stops hearts with a brush of her hand, destroys livers with a push of a palm. Her hands are speckled with blood and bile that is too easily washed away.

The Byakugan won’t allow her to forget the looks of terror on their faces, the tokens on their bodies the Byakugan allows her to see, the tokens from people they love and care about. A lock of hair. A good-luck charm. A folded letter, creases worn and darkened from being handled often.

There are too many bodies to bury.

They build a pyre, and cremate the people they kill. Thankfully, not all of the bandits try to fight to the death, and most of them flee for their lives when the slaughter comes too close.

Kurenai does not apologise for not stepping in, for seeing the cargo depart safely from the port instead, for completing the mission.

Team 8 learns a valuable lesson that day as they watch the smoke from the pyre rise into the night sky.

Sloppiness kills.

Inefficiency kills.

If they had been better, they could have avoided the ambush. Avoided the slaughter.

Avoided the death of a civilian.

Avoided a pyre of a hundred-odd bodies.

Perhaps, they could not have avoided killing at all, but they could have avoided this.

They are twelve years old, and their hands are steeped in the blood of the corpses they throw into the pyre.

They will return home a few days later. The magnitude of their failures will catch up with them. They will grieve, but they won’t know if it’s for the loss of so many lives or for themselves.

They will remember this mission for a long time. They will do better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the tenses being all over the place. I was going to make Team 8 learn to casually kill without regrets because that's kind of the job description of shinobi. But then I remembered that Naruto the series is all about the Power of Love, and then I decided that it would make more sense that Team 8 comes together to minimise useless and unnecessary deaths while understanding that it's sometimes absolutely necessary to kill a specific person. Kurenai is not a saint, and allows her team to make the shitty choices now instead of the future when the choices and enemies are way harder.


	8. Will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lessons are reinforced. Hayate has his own promise to the dead to fulfill.

Three months to the Chuunin Exams, Hayate and Kurenai find the time to coordinate their schedules. She takes Shino and Kiba to a cliffside to focus on chakra control training. Hayate takes Hinata to a general training field near the outskirts of the village.

“Now then,” Hayate turns his head to cough and clear his throat before continuing, “come at me with the best you have.”

Hinata hesitates for a second, then lunges forward with the juuken, and tries to land a blow on him. Hayate evades every strike, one hand in his pocket. He doesn’t even use a kunai.

“Try again please.”

\---

The last time Hayate sees Hyuuga Hideko is the day she submits her retirement notice. Such a pity, many whisper, she was a truly formidable chuunin. She could have been easily promoted to jounin in a few years. If only she wasn’t betrothed to the Clan Heir.

Her face is paler than usual, a grim set to her mouth. She walks out of the Administrative office with her head held high.

“Hideko-san.”

“Hayate-kun.” She doesn’t look all that surprised to see him. “I thought you were still on a mission.”

“We were fortunate enough to finish earlier than expected.”

Hideko gives him a rueful look. “I guess you’re not here to chat.”

“I don’t think you particularly want to.”

Hideko’s smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s so stupid, isn’t it?”

They walk in silence together. It’s an old topic, revisited so often it’s worn over like the medicine pot he keeps in his pocket, a reminder of the debt he owes.

Their shadows stretch away from them, lengthened by the setting sun.

“If,” he pauses for a moment, “if there’s something I can do for you -”

Hideko looks up at him in surprise. The sound of her laugh is sharp and amused. “As good as you are with a sword, I don’t think you can take on my entire clan.”

Hayate smiles despite himself. “That would be a _really_ big favour.”

“You would lose as well,” she chuckles. “And then Yuugao would come and kill me.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Just for a moment, it feels like old times.

“Thank you, Hayate-kun." She removes the hitae-ate from around her neck. “Keep this safe for me?”

He takes the forehead protector with both hands. “Of course.”

“If,” she smiles up at him, “if I ever need you, you’ll know.”

The gates of the Hyuuga compound loom ahead.

“You’d better take care of yourself, Hayate-kun. I want my kids to meet you someday.”

He doesn’t realise this is the last time he’ll see Hideko.

They never say goodbye to each other.

\---

He works Hinata to exhaustion, until she can no longer stand and the veins around her eyes recede. She’s struggling to catch her breath.

“Hinata-kun,” he crouches down, “do you know why I asked you to do this exercise?”

She looks up at him, still panting, and shakes her head.

“Hm,” he rocks slightly in place, “a different question then.”

He thumbs the medicine pot in his pocket, tracing the ridges of the label methodically.

“Why do we train?”

“To...to get stronger.”

“And what is purpose of strength?”

“The...the ability to defeat an opponent?” Hinata’s brow is wrinkled in confusion.

Hayate hums again, then has to clear his throat before continuing. “Well, that’s not exactly wrong, but it’s not entirely correct.”

Hinata’s brow wrinkles further.

“It is important to be strong enough to complete a mission, to defeat an opponent, that is true. But no matter how strong someone is, there's always someone stronger. Always. Gods willing, that person will fight beside us. If not, we may have to face them as an enemy. ”

Hayate places a hand on her shoulder.

“There will be battles you won't win alone. But that does not mean you cannot make a difference. This is why we have comrades. Why we have teams. The skills I want you to learn the most, Hinata-kun, is to survive, to never lose sight of the bigger picture, and to never forsake your comrades.”

He lets Hinata digest this.

She opens her mouth, then shuts it. She speaks hesitantly at first, a confirmation of his words before. “We train...not to be the strongest, but to achieve the bigger picture. If we don't win, as long as we survive, we can fight again.”

He sees the pieces coming together, the understanding dawn on her face. “You're teaching me to build endurance and additional chakra, not just to be stronger, but to able to survive long enough to make a defeat into a way to get information, to regroup. To make everyone stronger, not just myself. To protect those around us.”

Looking at Hinata is a little like looking at a ghost sometimes.

Hayate thinks of Hideko's letters after her marriage, the sheaves of mundane scribblings written in her hand, the hitae-ate resting in a box lined with archival paper he bought to preserve them. A good shinobi must read between the lines, read underneath the underneath.

_“If. If I ever need you, you’ll know.”_

Perhaps he was too late to save her. Towards the end, her scribbles were frenzied, incoherent as letters on their own. He could no longer tell if they were the ramblings of madness or missives buried far deeper than before.

Perhaps it was not about saving her, but to be the keeper of her will, to pass it on to her daughter.

Almost a decade since the first letter, and he has only cracked the first layer of the code. Perhaps her daughter holds the true key.

But first, she needs to be strong enough to withstand the adversity to come. Strong enough to make it through the tempest without losing herself.

Hayate smiles at Hinata. “Tomorrow, I will begin teaching you kenjutsu.”

He finally straightens from his crouched position. “We still have another six hours. We will have something to eat, and then we will resume this exercise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, just a little. Hayate's speech patterns in Japanese are always very polite/proper, so I have him use proper honorifics. He uses -kun for Hinata because it's not just for addressing boys, but a formal way to address subordinates or students. The proper proper way would probably be for him to use surname-kun but that's probably not practical in a Konoha teeming with large clans.
> 
> Also because I find that as per most shounen manga, it's about who can be the Mightiest and Strongest of Them All Ever. It's good for character building at first when you have emotionally constipated protagonists but then it starts snowballing into impossible godpowers and it's like erm, wut. I don't want to give Hinata godpowers or I AM THE CHOSEN ONE IN THE PROPHECY FROM THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO. I want to shift the focus back onto actual teamwork (e.g. getting help from others, people contributing in meaningful ways). There are evil people, but they're just evil/fucked-up/incredibly misguided and not because they're compelled by plant-people trying to resurrect a deity of creation.


	9. Awareness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuzuka don’t like walls between pack, and Shino, his team, is _pack_.

Shino feels empty, naked, without most of his kikaichuu. It is not as if he cannot summon them quickly from where they swarm in their holding case, safely in his pack. But he has lived his whole life with the hum of the hive under his skin, the ebb and flow of their chakra as they feed on his, the buzz of activity within him.

Kurenai does not want him to rely on his kikaichuu for this training exercise, consciously or otherwise, and Shino can rationally understand her reasoning behind it even though he does not like this feeling of their absence at all. She has also forbidden Kiba from using his claws to cheat.

They watch Kurenai walk up the trunk of a towering pine tree like she’s taking a stroll. She stops at one of of the higher branches about ten metres above them, her body at a perfect perpendicular angle to the tree. Her dark hair sways in the breeze.

“Tree-climbing with chakra,” Kurenai explains. “By concentrating chakra to your feet, you can scale vertical surfaces without using your hands, and it will force you to learn chakra control.”

“But sensei,” Kiba protests, “don’t I waste more energy by using chakra instead of just climbing the tree with my claws?”

Shino is already out of sorts with the absence of most of his kikaichuu, and his patience for Kiba missing the point is lower than usual. “That is because this exercise is _not_ about mastering the ability to climb trees, it is about the ability to _focus_ the right amount of chakra to the right place as needed, Kiba.”

Kiba stares at him like he’s staring into Shino’s soul.

\---

To anyone else, Shino would’ve seemed as calm and collected as he ever was, if a little more nitpicky than usual.

But to Kiba, whose sense of smell can pick up pheromones and the emotions carried in scent, Shino is actually lashing out. Stick-up-his-arse Shino is actually _leaking_ emotion right now.

On a day-to-day basis, Kiba generally tries not to pay a lot of attention to the inner emotional state of people around him that aren't part of the Inuzuka. Normal people are so…complicated and inconsistent, always putting up a front and pretending they don't feel what they're feeling inside, even when they're not on a mission. They also get upset when they realise he can see, or rather smell, through half their bullshit. They get paranoid and weird about it and Kiba has no fucking time for that kind of drama.

Shino is usually an enigma to him, his scent normally so saturated with the kikaichuu’s, that the hive drowns out any other scent signals emitted by Shino himself. It’s kind of refreshing, to have to learn how to push Shino’s buttons the traditional way, with facial cues and actual verbal and physical prodding.

But stripped of most of his kikaichuu, it’s impossible for Kiba to ignore the increasing anxiety, the irritation emanating from Shino.

Kiba has enough self-awareness to know that Shino would crush him in a real fight, mostly because it’s really fucking hard to avoid absurd numbers of tiny chakra-eating insects completely while being a close-range fighter. Shino knows it too, but he doesn’t brag or crow about it like Kiba would. Instead Shino hides behind walls of stoic composure instead of being outwardly the smug bastard Kiba knows he must be. Kiba spends a lot of time trying to break down those walls, trying to goad Shino into expressing emotion. Inuzuka don’t like walls between pack, and Shino, his team, is _pack_.

Kiba never expected Shino to be so vulnerable behind them.

Shino is _pack_ , and pack take care of each other. They’re here for a reason, so Kiba can’t just reach into Shino’s bag and release all the kikaichuu to fix the problem. So Kiba does what he does best - distraction and diversion.

\---

Kurenai wonders what she’s going to tell Aburame Shibi if this is going where she thinks it’s going. She watches her boys have a staring contest, and instead of just shouting and grumbling about arrogant jackasses, Kiba picks an actual fight with Shino, declaring a contest of who can master the exercise first and reach the top of the tree. Shino snaps again at Kiba, but the tension in the line of Shino’s shoulders loosens as he starts to focus on getting the right amount of chakra concentrated at his feet.

Maybe she’s overthinking it. Maybe it’s just the impending horizon of puberty.

She is going to treat herself to so much shochu when they get back to Konoha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shino has feelings and Kiba has feelings about those feelings. Also is it just me, or does Shinki from Boruto look like the lovechild of Kiba and Shino? (Context: I have not seen any episodes of Boruto, but I have watched the opening theme songs) I thought Shinki was using kikaichuu instead of iron sand at first (because animation shortcuts make them look really really similar). The face markings and the colouring and the fuzzy cloak. ALSO HIS NAME is like a mashup of Shino and Kiba and I am internally screaming.
> 
> I won't lie, I have a lot of ShinoKiba feels, and some of my headcanons in future chapters are taken from another fic I can no longer find to give credit to /sobs/ I want to re-read that fic.


	10. Betting Pools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because they are absolutely professionals that don’t make bets on whether their coworkers that argue over their children like an old married couple are going to start fucking or not.

A month before the Chuunin Exams are due to begin, the Hokage summons all the chuunin and jounin on standby to gather.

Everyone is surprised and intrigued when Kakashi actually nominates Team 7 to enter the Chuunin Exams. They have all heard about the Land of Waves mission, the C-rank that turned out to be a B-rank difficulty involving the missing-nin Momochi Zabuza. To think that the team everyone internally dubbed Team Trainwreck to themselves have come so far in Kakashi’s estimation.

...It is also entirely possible that Kakashi is going to throw his genin into the ocean and expect them to float. It’s hard to tell with that man sometimes.

Kurenai nominates Team 8 without hesitation. She does not realistically think her students will make chuunin this round (Shino maybe, the other two, unlikely), but she has no doubts her kids will pass the team stages with flying colours. It is also a good opportunity for them to test themselves against other shinobi instead of just bandits and highway robbers.

Asuma nominates Team 10 as well. Kurenai raises an eyebrow but says nothing.

Watching Umino Iruka’s face run the gamut from horror to flabbergasted at their nominations is plenty entertaining, especially when he gets into Kakashi’s face about it. Everyone knows Iruka has a soft spot for Naruto bigger than his entire person, and Kakashi’s general nonchalance about pretty much everything just incenses Iruka further.

Asuma folds his thumb and index finger down to his palm, the other fingers straight, and tilts his head in Kakashi and Iruka’s direction. _Two thousand ryou_.

What a cheap bet. Kurenai folds two fingers and a thumb down. _At least three thousand ryou_.

Asuma winces, but confirms with an almost imperceptible nod.

They’re about to hash out the terms of the bet when Sandaime returns his attention to the pool of jounin and chuunin, having managed to placate Iruka by allowing an extra preliminary test for the Rookie Nine. Asuma and Kurenai stand at attention, and confirm that they have no objections to an additional test.

Because they are absolutely professionals that don’t make bets on whether their coworkers that argue over their children like an old married couple are going to start fucking or not.

\---

The Rookie Nine all pass Iruka’s preliminary test.

Immediately, betting pools are started from both chuunins and jounins as to which of the candidates this year will make chuunin, the Rookie Nine now included on the list. All the bets go through Kotetsu, much to Izumo’s exasperation and Iruka’s loud disapproval, but Kotetsu has a paper with Iruka’s name on it for five thousand ryou on Uzumaki Naruto so he's definitely not going to listen to the naysayers.

Kurenai places a modest sum of two thousand ryou on Shino.

Asuma places fifteen thousand ryou on Shikamaru.

“Really?” Kurenai gapes at him. “I know he’s part of Ino-Shika-Chou legacy, but he is at least twice as lazy as Shikaku.”

She vaguely remembers Shikamaru being one of the bottom three graduates and Iruka drunkenly complaining about the slacker quartet who keep finding new ways to skip class. The quartet that included her Kiba, Iruka’s Naruto and Asuma's Shikamaru and Chouji.

Asuma grins, lips curving around the cigarette in his mouth. “Just wait and see. I'm going to make bank.”

“Is it the desperation of feeding your Akimichi that drives you to gamble on a long shot?” Kurenai smirks slightly.

“Such a skeptic,” Asuma shakes his head. “How about this? If my bet pays off, I'll take you to an onsen retreat.”

“I'm not going on a date with you,” Kurenai immediately retorts.

Asuma holds his hands up in front of him immediately as a placating gesture. “It's totally not a date.”

She stares him down. “If we're going to onsen, I'm bringing Anko with me,” she smiles with all her teeth. “Since it's totally not a date. Don't worry about paying for her share.”

Asuma's eye twitches but he wisely keeps his mouth shut before he can incite another genjutsu whammy. Instead, he steers the conversion back to their other bet about the village scarecrow and dolphin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watching Iruka mother-henning and Kakashi being all like the kids need to grow up is some of my favourite parts of canon. (Not that Kakashi is really great teacher to Naruto though...he spends most of canon angsting and throwing the kids into the deep end to sink or swim. I mean, he'll save their asses, but he doesn't spend that much canon time actually teaching Naruto or Sakura anything beyond Land of Waves arc. IDK. Just because he's a genius doesn't mean he's a good _teacher_ )
> 
> Also I believe in Kotetsu's ability to set up an incredibly unprofessional betting circuit with all the chuunin and jounin of Konoha while running away from Izumo's outrage. I also believe in Asuma and Kurenai's ability to miss the irony in the fact that they're betting on bickering coworkers getting together while being...themselves.


	11. Inspiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She’s not surprised that he manages to pass the first stage of the exams with a blank answer sheet and guts alone.

Team 8 do not stand out during the registration intake at the Chuunin Exams. They don’t need to.

All three of them immediately see through the genjutsu cast on the registration point by two older shinobi who are definitely not genin. They have a genjutsu specialist for a teacher, after all. Hinata does not even need to activate her Byakugan.

They observe other participants from the sidelines, watch as Team 7 approaches and the ensuing flurry of excitement as everyone takes notice of Uchiha Sasuke, the top graduate of their year and the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre.

Hinata swallows the unease in her throat when she recognises her cousin among the crowd. Thankfully, Hyuuga Neji's attention is focused on Sasuke and he doesn't look in her direction. She tries to ignore the knot in her stomach.

When Hyuuga Neji, the brightest talent of the Hyuuga clan, demands that Sasuke declare himself, people look and pay attention.

The two famed doujutsu of Konohagakure - Sharingan of the Uchiha and the Byakugan of the Hyuuga. The lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre and the youngest genius of the Hyuuga clan.

People definitely notice. There are whispered discussions around the room about the calibre of the Chuunin Exam candidates this year. Which doujutsu would triumph? The Sharingan, copier of almost any jutsu? Or the Byakugan that can see into your chakra flow and potentially defeat you with a single tap of the user’s palm?

Neji may not be looking in her direction, but the Hyuuga eyes are distinctive, and other people will notice that she has the same eyes. They will then take notice of her, and then her team, before they deliberately allow themselves to stand out.

Hinata brings her hands together and carefully draws a thread of chakra for a partial Henge, cloaking her eyes in a dark gray hue, bland and unremarkable. It is not enough chakra output to draw anyone’s attention, even for a sensor-type. Plenty of shinobi, particularly kunoichi, like to maintain small vanities, and she will simply look like one of the many. The longer everyone keeps their attention on Sasuke and Neji, the better.

Not long after, Naruto loudly and openly and foolishly challenges a roomful of shinobi from at least six hidden villages, most of whom are far more seasoned and experienced than he is. Sakura looks _livid_ , and grabs Naruto in a headlock, hissing furiously at him for his idiocy.

Even Shikamaru buries his face in his hand in exasperation. “Are you insane? Now everyone will want to smash your face into the ground. Why would you go and _invite_ trouble?”

Hinata smiles despite herself. They don’t see it, don’t acknowledge it, but the tension in the room has lightened, thanks to Naruto’s outburst. His antics have taken the fearful hunch out in Sakura’s shoulders. Some of the other older genin are even laughing, or rolling their eyes. Naruto’s energy, his confidence, affects everyone near him, whether they realise it or not.

\---

The first stage is a written test.

Hinata is at first thrilled to be sitting next to Naruto, but an hour is a long time to be sitting in the same room with Hyuuga Neji, even if her cousin is more than ten rows and seven seats over towards the back of the room. She’s spent a long time avoiding anyone from her clan as much as possible.

The test is designed to encourage cheating, even though she can answer at least two of the questions on her own. Cheating discreetly is hardly a challenge to a Byakugan user. She tries to quell the dread welling up inside her. Any moment now, Neji will activate his Byakugan. He’ll recognise her chakra signature.

For a moment, she’s five years old again on the floor of the dojo, still trying desperately to gain her father’s approval. He’s always been hard on her, strict, but he is even harsher than he used to be, before Hyuuga Hizashi died.

Neji is six, already exponentially more talented than she is. Every time she fails to land a hit on him, his expression twists into disappointment, then anger.

A normal child would be frustrated enough, to have to repeat the same exercises over and over again for someone else's benefit. For Neji, this entirely unchallenging farce of a spar only continues to cement his growing hatred for the Main House.

She is five and she keeps getting back up. She can’t afford not to. It's because she knows, that if she were to fall apart here, no one will comfort her. In a room full of pale eyes just like hers, she is alone.

Her mother is pregnant again, confined to her quarters. The attendants from the Branch Family whisper about it when they think she's out of earshot. _Hideko-sama is becoming manic, paranoid_. A difficult pregnancy, a sign of a strong Byakugan carrier to come.

If Hinata did not look so much like Hideko, she might forget what her own mother looks like. Her mother refuses to see her these days, refuses to see anyone.

Hinata is struck down again, and Neji comes at her with real intent this time. She remembers her uncle writhing in agony in this exact section of flooring from two years ago.

She tries to call out to Neji to stop, but there's not enough time before her father activates the Juin. Neji is brought to his knees, and his cries of pain are harrowing. He's only six.

\---

She jerks back to the present when she gets clipped in the shoulder by a panicked flail from Naruto. He hurriedly whispers an apology and she nods faintly, trying to pull herself together.

She counts her breaths, her knuckles white in the hand gripped around her pencil.

She's not in the dojo.

She’s not the heir anymore.

She has a team now.

She won’t let the Hyuuga take her apart again.

She loosens her grip, activates her Byakugan, and starts writing out answers. She knows Akamaru will watch out for answers to give to Kiba, and that Shino will do better than fine with his kikaichuu.

She won’t drag them down.

\---

Not long after, she will quietly offer to let Naruto copy her answers as a silent thank you for pulling her out from her memories.

He’ll refuse, not realising that he was never meant to be able to answer the questions anyway.

She’s not surprised that he manages to pass the first stage of the exams with a blank answer sheet and guts alone.

She has no doubts that Uzumaki Naruto will become Hokage one day. After all, the Hokage is not just the strongest shinobi, but the one that can also inspire others to follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard to write without trying to take away from Naruto's own canon development. I'll have more fun with the second stage.
> 
> Hinata is a fangirl, can you tell? Also unresolved childhood trauma.


	12. Easy Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anko is just getting into her first plate of dango when the screaming starts.

The second stage exam proctor, Mitarashi Anko, takes great delight in telling the remaining twenty-six teams about the Forest of Death, their next stage requirements, and that absolutely some of them will die. She cheerfully hands out liability waiver forms for the teams to sign.

Kiba is practically vibrating with excitement as they pick up their starting scroll and are led to wait outside Gate 16. “Hell yeah, survival mission. We’re going to crush this.”

Shino’s kikaichuu immediately surround and cover their Scroll of Heaven, and pull back under his jacket, taking the scroll with them. “We should not underestimate the other teams.”

“Whatever - we just won’t go easy on anyone then,” Kiba smirks. “Right, Hinata?”

Hinata nods. They know better than to play around on a mission.

The gates open, and they enter the arena.

\---

Team 8 knows the value of being underestimated.

They are part of the Rookie Nine after all. It is inevitable that the more seasoned genin will come after them, looking for easy pickings in a mission like this.

Kiba and Akamaru have been scenting out as many of the participants as possible beforehand, to be able to leave a wide berth between them and the slightly unhinged shinobi that reek of bloodlust. There’s a good number of them, which is probably an occupational hazard of being raised as child soldiers.

Still, they’re not here to leave an impression, they’re here to find a matching scroll and take it to the central tower. Even if their opponents turn out to be easy, it would be a waste of time and chakra to engage in a fight if they don’t have to. There’s still at least one more stage of the Chuunin Exams after this one, after all.

Hinata immediately activates her Byakugan to find a water source, as well as the right clearings for their plan. Shino uses the kikaichuu to set up the traps. Kiba and Akamaru go foraging for something edible.

\---

_Amateurs._

Team Yudachi can’t believe their luck. One of the Konoha rookies is rummaging through the bushes, picking berries. He’s not even properly masking his presence.

Konoha really has gotten soft with their shinobi. In Amegakure, this kid wouldn’t have been allowed to become a genin, let alone participate in the exams for promotion.

He carries a puppy on his head even, like it’s a kindergarten field trip. They wait to see if the ninken will react to their scent, but the Konoha brat continues to forage without a care. A fool.

All they need to do is follow him back to the rest of his team and take their scroll, make an example out of them to warn off other teams.

Easy prey.

\---

Kiba is about to show off his bounty to Hinata and Shino in the clearing when the three Amegakure-nin tailing him start falling out of the trees like overripe fruit. He smirks.

The Amegakure-nin are covered in huge, striped leeches, their slimy bodies rippling in the light.

“You actually took the bait,” Kiba says almost gleefully. “Did you know the Land of Fire’s jumping leeches are attracted to perspiration and body heat, and attack in groups? If you can’t get them off in the next five minutes, it’s the next world for you. This is our home turf, loser.”

“You-!” one of the Amegakure-nin chokes out, trying to reach out with his kunai, his movement uncoordinated from blood loss.

His kunai snags against a hidden wire. The wire snaps, closing the net around their prey, leaving them dangling from the treetops at the mercy of the leeches.

Shino reaches out, and kikaichuu stream out of his sleeves into the net, searching. The leeches have no interest in the kikaichuu.

\---

Anko is just getting into her first plate of dango when the screaming starts. Ahh, music to her ears.

\---

The Amegakure-nin in the net have stopped moving, stopped screaming.

The kikaichuu cloud returns. The swarm parts slightly to reveal a Scroll of Earth to match their Scroll of Heaven, before disappearing back under Shino’s jacket.

Hinata breathes a sigh of relief. “We won’t need to use the other traps then.”

Perhaps they could have let the Amegakure-nin out of the trap, but the three would have been too weak to move after having been fed on. If they didn’t get finished by another team, the wild animals in the arena would have picked them off instead. It was still not a kind death by any means.

Hopefully they won’t need to kill anyone else on the way to the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we talk about how brutally efficient Team 8 are in the anime/manga during this stage of the Chuunin Exams? 
> 
> In the manga, Team 8's jumping leech victims are actually fellow Konoha genin. They change the village affiliation to Amegakure in the anime. They're the first team to induce screaming in the anime, and Shino and Hinata are like zen af while they casually murder people with leeches. Kiba is having a ball. It's even more brutal when you think that they're casually murdering fellow Konoha shinobi in the manga version.
> 
> Legit, even Team Gai are not as efficient in the Forest of Death. Team 8's actually using the terrain and surroundings to get shit done.


	13. Desert Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 8 encounters Sabaku no Gaara.

They still have at least an 8km trek through the forest before they can reach the tower. It's not a long distance to cover within five days, but the longer they take, the more likely that they will be forced to engage with other teams.

They were fortunate enough to get the scroll they needed so quickly. Others won't be. It is very likely that some of the other teams will set up traps around the tower sooner or later to get the scroll they need or to thin out the competition. It’s a reasonable enough strategy as all teams would eventually need to get to the central tower.

They decide that getting to the tower as soon as possible is the best plan with the least amount of damage, before other teams can make it there first.

They move at a good clip, Kiba and Akamaru taking the lead, Hinata and Shino close behind. Between Kiba and Akamaru's noses, Hinata's Byakugan and Shino sending out a small and carefully spread out vanguard of kikaichuu, they smoothly avoid the giant snakes, bear dens, more leeches, tigers, and some poisonous swamps that the Forest of Death is home to.

Hinata is taking a break from scouting ahead when the direction of the wind starts to change. Kiba suddenly stops, inhaling in the way that means he's actually concentrating chakra to his nose. Akamaru barely takes a sniff before letting out a high pitched whine and climbing into Kiba's jacket.

Hinata and Shino know that's a bad sign.

“Hinata, can you scout ahead 1km that way?” Kiba says with uncharacteristic seriousness.

Hinata nods and focuses her Byakugan in the direction the wind is coming from.

A dizzying amount of detail unfolds beyond the trees they are perched on, in all directions. She skims past layer after layer of trees and bush until she finds what they're likely looking for.

“There are two teams facing off against each other. From the hitai-ate, a team from Sunagakure and another team from Amegakure,” Hinata reports.

“Can you maintain the Byakugan from this distance?” Kiba asks. “Is it too much?”

“For now, I can only hold it for a few minutes at a time,” Hinata says, apology in her voice. She has been broadening her range slowly over the last few months with practice. At first she could only scout a range of 300 metres radius.

Kiba strokes Akamaru's fur as he chews on his lower lip, thinking.

“We should get closer then,” Kiba says.

Shino angles his head at Kiba sharply. “Why?”

“This guy's scent is different than before,” Kiba replies. “His bloodlust is _insane_.”

“Then we should _avoid_ getting closer, Kiba. We already discussed this - we will not confront anyone unless we absolutely have to.”

“I'm not saying we should fight,” Kiba snaps back. “But this guy's scent is crazy. It smells wrong - old, like _ancient_ old.”

“We can’t risk engaging just to satisfy your curiosity,” Shino’s voice betrays a hint of annoyance now.

“I’m not doing it to dick around,” Kiba snarls. “He’s going to be heading for the tower too, and I’d rather know what the hell is up with this guy while someone else is the distraction.”

He doesn’t bother to wait for Shino to agree or argue, and simply starts jumping the branches towards the scent. Kiba’s never been good at explaining the gut reactions that he trusts completely, and Shino hates the lack of specificity that comes with it.

Shino makes a noise somewhere between a grumble and a sigh, and the two of them leap after Kiba anyway.

\---

They close in on the scent by about five to six hundred metres when Kiba comes to a stop. The bloodlust is intense, overwhelming, from this close, especially with extra chakra being concentrated to his nose. He can smell the foreignness of desert sand mingled with the scent of that oddly intense Suna genin with the thick black rings around his eyes. At this distance, he not only smells the bloodlust, the roil of ancient malice, but also the scent of spilled blood. A lot of spilled blood.

He cups his hands over his nose slightly to dilute the onslaught of foreign scents. This kid did not smell anything like this earlier at the registrations. But the scent of blood doesn’t smell fresh - some of it smells older, like a set-in stain, some of it more recent.

Akamaru’s trembling worsens as he curls up tighter in Kiba’s jacket.

Kiba turns towards Hinata, and Hinata understands what he is asking. She activates her Byakugan again. They’re close enough for her to maintain it long enough to observe the encounter, as close as they can get without compromising the amount of distance they want to leave for an escape if they’re discovered.

The Amegakure team leader looks annoyed, provoked, and releases five kasa into the air, releasing an onslaught of senbon needles dipped in poison. Hinata reads the movement of his lips as the leader boasts of the unerring accuracy of his senbon as they are controlled by his chakra, always sure to hit his target, the senbon strong and sharp enough to punch through sheets of steel.

It is an impressive technique. Thousands of the long thin spikes aim straight and true at the Suna genin with the gourd.

But before any of the senbon can hit their target, a thick dome of sand forms around the Suna shinobi.

Not a single senbon makes it through the shield of sand.

The Amegakure-nin look horrified, while another of the Suna shinobi, the one wearing face paint, tells them smugly about the absolute defense of the sand shield. It's automatic, and fast, much faster than the rain of poisoned senbon.

The leader of the Ame genin looks enraged now, and breaks into a run at the sand dome.

The front of the dome parts. The sand ripples, alive with chakra, and the Suna genin controlling it raises his hands to form a seal she doesn't recognise.

A column of sand whips out to grab the Amegakure-nin, more sand spreading across his body until he is encased completely, only his face exposed.

“You made it rain senbon,” the Suna genin raises his arm. The mass of sand trapping his opponent floats upwards with the movement. “In return, I will make it rain blood.”

There is real terror on the Amegakure-nin's face now.

“I could cover your mouth,” the Suna genin says almost serenely as he picks up a fallen kasa from the ground with his other hand. “But that would be too pitiful for you.”

The Suna genin closes his fist and the sand visibly constricts.

Hinata cannot hear the Ame-nin's screams from this distance, but she can see with haunting clarity the blood exploding out of his eyes, nose, mouth, ears. Liquified Amegakure-nin arcs into the air and splatters in all directions, a bloody rain that stains the kasa shielding his murderer, a bloody rain that also stains the hats and clothes of his now former teammates.

The two remaining Ame-nin desperately try to surrender their scroll in exchange for their lives. The negotiation fails.

Their blood, too, rains down on the Sunagakure team, feeding the churning sand.

\---

Kiba starts to smell really fresh blood in the wind, so when Hinata closes her eyes and deactivates her Byakugan, her face almost paper-white, he is definitely worried.

Kiba crouches down. “Hinata?”

“We...we need to get away from here,” Hinata whispers. “I’ll show you what happened later.”

Shino and Kiba loop her arms around their shoulders, supporting her on either side as they put as much distance between them and the Suna team as they can.

\---

They find a safe spot to stop. Hinata takes a long pull of water out of a canteen and the colour has returned somewhat to her face.

She places her fingers against their foreheads. Genjutsu is the projection of chakra into someone else, to make someone see what you want them to see, and sometimes it’s far easier to show rather than tell.

Her memories are fresh, and she shows them what happened. Time can pass differently in genjutsu, and it does not take long for Kiba and Shino to be caught up.

She releases the genjutsu and they are pale too.

“I’m sorry, Hinata,” Kiba says, but she shakes her head. Her fingers brush at a bead of sweat at his hairline.

“Having information about the opponent is invaluable,” Hinata recites their sensei’s mantra. “This is what we do best.”

“Should we delay continuing on to the tower?” Shino says, ever practical, even though they can both see the discomfort in the line of his shoulders.

The three of them consider their options, reflecting on the exams so far.

“Unless we want to fail the second stage, we still have to get to the tower at some point,” Kiba says, scratching a still trembling Akamaru behind the ears. “Even if we want to avoid fighting that crazy Sand guy, there’s not much benefit to changing the main plan.”

Up to twenty-two other teams are still out there in the same arena.

“If his scent changes, that means he’s not always immediately out to kill,” Shino says, looking to Kiba for confirmation. “There would be more missing people before this stage as well.”

Kiba nods. “His scent was definitely different to before.”

“Then, the main plan should not change. That is because there’s no guarantee his...insanity will stay dormant when more teams make it to the tower, even if they will provide a distraction from us,” Shino assesses. “Perhaps the bloodlust is triggered by the challenge presented by strong enemies.”

Kiba and Hinata nod in agreement. On their own, they might not present as a true threat. They still agree as a team that if worse comes to worst, they will forfeit this exam to avoid fighting _him_. Dying in these exams would be absolutely meaningless to the benefit of no one.

They give themselves five minutes to eat and drink before setting off for the tower again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that Neji's Byakugan range according to the Naruto Wiki is about 50m in Part I and 800m in Part II? But Hinata is shown in the anime to have a scouting range of 1km at the time of the Chuunin Exams? This intrigues me a lot, especially since her range supposedly expands to 20km towards the end of the series. My headcanon is that Neji has a micro view advantage (e.g. tenketsu) and Hinata is inclined towards macro view (distance). That being said, Kishimoto is very inconsistent with everyone's abilities in canon, because apparently Hinata eventually does learn to see tenketsu enough to use the 64 Trigrams but Neji is still hailed as a Hyuuga genius with a range of 800m and canon is a weird place lbr I can't really even right now.
> 
> Alternative summary for this chapter: Team 8 use their collective brains and do a risk assessment. And genjutsu being used for more than fucking with people.


	14. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four days later, only seven out of the original twenty-six teams make it to the tower.

Thankfully, they reach the tower without further incident along the way. They do not fool themselves into thinking they’ve arrived first.

It’s been just over five hours since the start of the second stage of the exams. It feels a lot longer.

“They’re already here. Their scent is already at least a few hours old,” Kiba says as they approach the doors.

“No matter what, we must keep a low profile for the next four days,” Shino reminds them as they push the doors open. “That is because there is no guarantee that we will be allowed to leave the arena early.”

They follow the dimly lit corridor to a fork, both paths curving slightly to follow the lines of the circular tower. In front of them is a wall hanging with an inscription written by the Sandaime Hokage. The inscription references Heaven and Earth, with a character missing near the end of it.

It is obvious enough that they are now supposed to open the scrolls in their possession.

There is a quiet hum of kikaichuu, and the two scrolls drop gently from Shino’s jacket. He hands one to Hinata, and offers one to Kiba. Kiba gives him a considering look and then shrugs, leaving it to Shino.

Hinata and Shino open the scrolls at the same time.

Smoke starts to billow out of the scroll - a summoning.

\----

“Wow, you guys are fast,” says a familiar voice.

Kiba immediately perks up. “Nee-chan!”

Inuzuka Hana steps out of the smoke, still wearing her medic uniform. “I wasn’t expecting to be summoned so quickly - I think you guys broke a record, even.”

“But someone else got here first,” Hinata points out quietly. Hana shrugs, placing her hands on her hips.

“Second fastest team to get through the Forest of Death is still nothing to sneeze at,” she grins proudly. “The old record was five and a half hours. Now it’s ninety-seven minutes for the Sunagakure team, but you still beat the old record by a solid twenty-two minutes.”

“Really?” Kiba asks excitedly. “Who held the previous record?”

The smile on Hana’s face dims.

“...Nee-chan?”

The look on Hana’s face is rueful. “The previous record holder was...Uchiha Itachi and his then-Team 2, with Izumo Tenma and Inari Shinko.”

Uchiha Itachi is a very familiar name. S-rank missing-nin. The man who wiped out the Uchiha clan in one night.

Between the bloodthirsty Suna-nin and the legacy of Uchiha Itachi - Kiba, Shino and Hinata can hardly find satisfaction in their impressive timestamp.

Hana pulls all three of them into a hug. “For what it’s worth, I’m still incredibly proud of you guys. Now, I’m supposed to give you an inspirational talk on what the Sandaime’s inscription is supposed to mean, but I think you guys understand the metaphor enough about honing both your mind and body to its peak?”

The three of them exchange looks, and nod.

“Good,” Hana says briskly, “because you wouldn’t have gotten here this quickly if you couldn’t effectively command the knowledge available to you, or if you lacked the physicality required to make it through this training arena. Congratulations on passing the second stage.”

\---

Hana does not stay much longer, only long enough to check on Akamaru briefly before departing in a hiss of smoke. Akamaru sleeps soundly on Kiba’s head thanks to a sedative Hana administers before leaving.

They still have four days to kill before the second stage is completely done with, and they’re not permitted to leave the tower, as they originally suspected.

They stake out a secluded enough room in the building, out of the way of the main corridors that the Suna team roam periodically. They remain hyperaware of the danger that the Suna team presents, and they all keep tabs on the Suna team’s movements around the tower. Thankfully, the terrifying Suna genin appears to dislike wandering around too often, preferring to sit eerily still at the other end of the tower for most of the day, according to Hinata and Shino’s observations. She notices the Suna genin’s chakra flaring several times a day, and it is disturbing to discover that he apparently does not sleep.

\---

They also take the opportunity to train between lookouts and sleeping in shifts. Nothing with large bursts of chakra or intense spars, as they do not want to draw attention to themselves. Kiba is the most restless of the three of them, so he keeps himself busy with physical exercises. Flips, rolls, katas of the Inuzuka style of taijutsu. It’s a fluid, fast style, animalistic in its striking pattern.

Hinata meditates, trying to break down and understand the jutsu that Hayate-sensei had shown her to practice. Homework, he had said to her before having to stop their sessions to focus on preparation for the Chuunin Exams. She would like to be able to do at least one of them by the time their sessions resume again.

Shino also practices something he has been working on, a way to use his kikaichuu not only to consume, but to distribute chakra. If he succeeds, it would have many useful applications. To be able to augment his comrades’ chakra if needed in the field, or to be able to confuse and throw off sensor-types by disseminating his kikaichuu to emit large amounts of chakra.

\---

Four days later, only seven out of the original twenty-six teams make it to the tower. Team Gai makes it to the tower by day three. Team 10 makes it by day four. The team from Otogakure makes it by day four as well. Team 7, and another Konoha team led by a genin with round glasses and pale grey hair tied back, arrive just in time to avoid disqualification on the fifth day.

All of the teams on standby are summoned to the main hall. The Hokage is present, as well as the qualifying teams’ supervising jounin and the exam proctors.

Kurenai smiles at her kids from where she stands behind the Hokage with the other jounin, mouthing _good job_ before returning to professional neutrality as the Hokage begins to explain the true purpose of the Chuunin Exams - as a replacement for war, and a way to showcase upcoming talented shinobi from their villages to potential and existing clients, including Daimyo and other dignitaries.

He then hands over the remaining explanations of the third stage to Hayate, who politely bows to Sandaime before bringing up a clipboard, coughing into his forearm.

“Well, the third stage of these exams is very straightforward - a tournament between individual genin. However, even if you were to win the tournament, this is not a guarantee you will be promoted to chuunin. Promotion is only granted to genin who exhibit the qualities desired of a chuunin. You will have more chances to demonstrate these qualities to your audience if you win more matches, however, so please do try your best.”

Hayate’s gaze skims over the twenty-one qualifying genin. “I’m not sure if it’s because the first and second stage tests were too easy,” he says evenly as Morino Ibiki rolls his eyes and Mitarashi Anko makes an offended snort, “but we have too many remaining candidates. Therefore, we will hold a preliminary round momentarily.”

“Seriously, what is this pissing contest between examiners,” Kiba mutters behind Hinata, who tries not to smile when she remembers Anko also declaring a similarly pointed remark at Ibiki after the first stage when she had stormed into the examination hall like a whirlwind.

Hayate clears his throat pointedly before continuing. “If anyone would like to retire from these exams, there will be no penalty for your team members, as the group stages are done. However, it is entirely possible for fatalities to occur in the preliminary and main tournaments. Therefore, anyone who would like to bow out before we begin, please raise your hand.”

Hinata can immediately feel someone’s gaze boring into the back of her skull, and it’s not Kiba’s. Her palms start to feel clammy, and she takes a deep, steadying breath. _This is not the dojo_.

She tries to ignore the presence behind her, instead distracting herself by observing the other teams. Naruto looks excited, carefree as ever, while Sakura and Sasuke are whispering furiously at each other. Sasuke has his hand curled around the back of his neck. There’s a paler than usual cast to his face. An injury?

Then the Konoha genin with pale grey hair raises his hand, which causes the hum of whispers to stop. “I would like to withdraw.”

Hayate checks his clipboard. “Yakushi Kabuto-kun, right?” he confirms. “You may go.”

They watch as Naruto tries to convince Kabuto not to quit, but Kabuto calmly and gently says he’s already too low on chakra to keep going and leaves anyway.

Akamaru yips quietly and Team 8 turns their attention back to the Hokage, who is having a discreet discussion with Anko and Ibiki. Their attention is also on Kabuto’s retreating figure.

It’s one thing for genin to be distracted by the sentimental display from Naruto, but to draw the attention of the examiners and Hokage as well - there must be something about him that they are concerned about.

“Well then, if no one else is willing to withdraw now, we will continue straight to the preliminary rounds.” Hayate raises his hand to gesture towards a large screen against the far wall. “Your matches will be determined by random selection. If you are not the one of the first contestants, please make your way up the staircases to the spectator platform. As I said before, it is possible for fatalities to occur during these matches. However, as proctor, if I have determined a clear winner of the round, I will step in to prevent unnecessary deaths.”

The screen immediately begins to shuffle names, then slows.

 _Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi_ blinks at them from the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, canonically Team 8's arrival at the tower is a bit hazy. From the dialogue, they either got there just after the Suna siblings, or 12 hours after the Suna siblings. The scene was cut in an ambiguous way, so I'm just going with my take on it. No one notices Team 8 was like also hella impressive because Gaara stole the spotlight for his 97 minute record.
> 
> Also the thought that basically Team Suna and Team 8 are chilling the hell out waiting for everyone else to get to the tower over the next four days amuses me.
> 
> I'd apologise for the rehash of Chunnin exam arc but this is my favourite arc (because it didn't revolve around Uchiha angsting the world into the ground), so...not sorry.


	15. Trump Cards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke impresses his audience. Shino shocks them.

At her most detached, Hinata finds it almost funny that a name alone would draw so much attention to one person. Almost everyone in the hall has their eyes fixed on Uchiha Sasuke. Even Neji and the Suna genin are completely focused on the match below. Hinata welcomes the respite from the constant hyperawareness of them she's had to maintain for days.

The match begins, and it’s immediately evident that something is off about Sasuke. Hinata glances in Sakura’s direction. Sakura already looks like she’s ready to leap over the railing at any moment, her expression twisted in worry.

A pre-existing injury is the most likely. From the way Sasuke is moving, a severe one.

Akamaru growls lowly. Kiba looks closer at the fight. “Akamaru says that Yoroi dude can absorb chakra.”

They watch as Yoroi quickly gains the upper hand, already forcing Sasuke onto the defensive.

Yoroi manages to drain chakra from Sasuke at least twice before Sasuke musters enough strength to kick him off.

Naruto starts cheering Sasuke from the platform under the guise of insulting him. Rock Lee is alongside Naruto, practically vibrating with anticipation.

The logical thing to do would be to use a long-distance attack, but Sasuke doesn’t make any attempts to form any seals or use the Sharingan. Hinata wonders if he is so seriously injured to be unable to use ninjutsu. It would explain why Sakura is so anxious.

Instead, thanks to Naruto's goading, Sasuke seems to settle into himself before picking up speed, kicking Yoroi into the air, a perfect copy of the move Rock Lee used at the registration hall.

“Kage Buyou, huh,” Kiba says with interest as Sasuke appears beneath Yoroi, a smirk on his face.

But then Sasuke suddenly flinches in midair, blood escaping the corners of his mouth, muscles locked. Dark patches start appearing on his neck, spreading up to his face.

Hinata is about to activate her Byakugan when the patches start to recede again, Sasuke visibly gritting his teeth, even paler than before.

Whatever just happened, Sasuke appears to have regained control. He and Yoroi are already beginning to fall.

On the way down, Sasuke creates momentum mid-air with Yoroi as a counterweight, rapidly striking him on each side. He then shifts out from beneath Yoroi and turns, using the momentum from the fall and gravity to deliver a finishing blow to Yoroi from above just as Yoroi hits the ground hard enough to smash through the surface of the concrete. “Shishi Rendan!”

Sasuke rolls away from the impact, almost skidding across the floor.

Yoroi is bleeding from his mouth and nose, unconscious in the crater in the floor. Sasuke is panting from the exertion and manages to get onto his knees as he keeps a wary eye on Yoroi's still body.

Hayate steps forward to take a closer look at Yoroi. He raises his hand.

“The winner of this match is Uchiha Sasuke.”

\---

The hall is even more abuzz with excitement from Sasuke's taijutsu win. Such promise from the last Uchiha, without even needing to activate his Sharingan.

Kiba will admit that Sasuke is strong, smart; but seriously, his taijutsu combo was not that amazing. The amount of fuss over this guy is so out of proportion.

Kakashi soon spirits Sasuke away from the arena, presumably to get him to medical. Sasuke does not look happy about it, but he rarely looks happy about anything.

There's a brief pause for medic-nin arriving to carry Yoroi out on a stretcher and for someone to clear away the rubble from the crater.

The screens starts to shuffle through names again once the arena is clear.

Kiba smirks as the names are settled.

 _Abumi Zaku vs Aburame Shino_.

Whoever Zaku is, he's a goner.

\---

While Shino remains grateful to not have been paired to fight the Suna genin, he feels ambivalent about fighting a guy with two broken arms.

He will do what he has to, of course, but the Aburame do not take pleasure in killing or hurting people.

“You should give up,” he says evenly to the Oto-nin as they face each other in the middle of the arena. “That is because fighting me in your condition will disable you from fighting permanently.”

The Oto-nin scoffs. “Like hell I will.”

“Consider your future as a shinobi. Give up now.” Shino hopes Zaku will listen to reason. “You cannot defeat me.”

Zaku snarls and drags his left arm out from its sling. “A single arm is more than enough!”

The Oto-nin runs at him and Shino blocks the coming punch with his forearm.

 _A fool_ , Shino thinks uncharitably, as he hears the displacement of air concentrated around Zaku's hand. There is a pipe implanted into the centre of the Oto-nin's palm.

There is a surge of chakra and Shino feels the kikaichuu under his skin breaking rapidly to the surface to absorb the force of Zaku's Decapitating Airwave just as he throws himself to the side.

The kikaichuu chitter loudly on him, within him, excited by the prospect of consuming foreign chakra.

He suddenly recalls Kiba once crassly describing the kikaichuu chitter as a “scream for more snacks”, and the corner of his mouth twitches behind the collar of his jacket.

He's tempted to look up to the platform, to catch Kiba and Hinata's eyes, but he doesn't. It won't do to be distracted, even if his opponent has no hope of winning.

Zaku looks shocked to see Shino standing without injury, and then disgusted when Shino lets some of his kikaichuu crawl out of the skin in his cheek, visible above his high collar.

Shino is aware of the effect the sight of kikaichuu eating though his skin has on non-Aburame. He doesn't often do it on purpose, but the psychological effect it tends to have on his opponents can be useful.

“The kikaichuu attack in groups and consume chakra,” Shino explains to the Oto-nin just as Zaku realises the chittering is coming from more than one direction. “If I attack you with this many, you will never fight again.”

A horde of kikaichuu has already formed behind Zaku. Shino raises his hands to form a seal.

“You should surrender the match. If you attack me, the kikaichuu will overcome you from behind. If you attack the kikaichuu, you will be open to my attack. You cannot beat me with one arm.”

Zaku starts grinning, and Shino prepares himself for something unpleasant. The Oto-nin drags his other arm up from the second sling, a sheen of sweat across his brow. The right arm is more damaged than the left.

“I saved my trump card for last, brat. I’ll teach you not to underestimate me! I'm going to blast you and your insects out of existence.”

Shino would admire his perseverance but he only feels pity on him for what's coming.

“Zankuuha!” Zaku shouts triumphantly.

The distinctive whine of the Decapitating Airwave stutters abruptly. Zaku has only a second to look confused before he starts screaming.

His forearms bulge, ripple as the hiss of pressurised air and chakra intertwined reaches a terrifying pitch. The sound of skin, muscles and bones tearing apart is unforgettable as Zaku's arms rip clean off past the elbow. Blood continues to pulse out of the stumps and Zaku’s screams turn into wet gasps for air as he clings to consciousness.

Shino collects the arms strewn about the arena before laying them next to Zaku. “I already transferred some of my kikaichuu to those troublesome airholes in your hands when you struck me the first time. I instructed them to plug both your hands and lay low - just in case.”

Shino straightens and puts his hands back into his pockets, staring down at Zaku. “That is what a true trump card should be.”

Zaku is already unconscious from shock and blood loss.

\---

“The winner of this match is Aburame Shino.”

The medic team hurriedly moves in to staunch the bleeding and carry Zaku away. The cleanup team also steps in to scrub the pool of blood off the concrete.

Hayate sighs internally. Would it be too much to ask to have clean battles? And there are still eight matches left.

\---

Shino climbs the stairs back onto the platform, keeping his strides steady and composed. The way his yearmates look at him has changed, he can feel it. He's not entirely sure it's a good thing. People already feel uneasy around him to begin with.

Kurenai squeezes his shoulder. “You did well.”

Hinata hesitates for a second, but curls her hands loosely around his, bringing them up to look at them. There's specks of blood on his fingertips from when he retrieved Zaku's arms. She retrieves a handkerchief from her pocket and starts wiping the blood off, rubbing carefully, gently, at spots that have already dried. The cotton is a fine cotton, soft, and the kind of quality fabric only available to the wealthiest of families.

Kiba claps Shino on the back, and if Shino were the scowling type, he would be scowling at Kiba. Instead he levels an unimpressed stare at his teammate.

“You totally curb-stomped that guy.” Kiba grins wolfishly. “Show-off.”

“You, of all people, have no right to call me a show-off,” Shino replies. One of these days, Shino will lure a colony of spiders into everything Kiba carries on a mission and enjoy the ensuing freakout.

“Look, bug-boy, just because my jutsu are totally way cooler to look at doesn't mean I'm a show-off.”

“Your jutsu are essentially you running loudly and indiscriminately into something until it stops moving,” Shino retorts before he can help himself. Kiba has the unique ability to bring out every petty, childish urge in him.

Instead of being offended, Kiba laughs. Shino always feels slightly off-kilter whenever he gets suckered into petty bickering with his teammate, because he cannot always tell what will make Kiba snap or not.

People are difficult. Insects are so much easier.

If he’s honest with himself though, there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

\---

Hinata and Shino have never really needed to exchange many words between them, but she always envies the ease Kiba has in keeping them grounded instead of lost in their own heads. Shino is opening up more to them, and they are getting better at reading his body language.

Her team is safety, is _home_ , and she would like to be the same for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I went with the manga consequences of Aburame (Brutally Efficent) Shino's Extremely Effective utilisation of his kikaichuu. Well, technically Zaku only gets one arm blown off in the manga I think, and the anime his arms don't blow off but become useless, but regardless, limbs get blown off and I decided to make it two. I can also imagine Hayate being like can we not make a mess kthx, and he probably just wants this prelim round to be over. Canon Shino needs more love because he is a precious badass who just wants people to appreciate insects and hates being left out of shit/forgotten by his friends.
> 
> I've said this before, but gods, I love the Chuunin Exam arc. Also, canon Kiba's sass needs more appreciation.


	16. Hesitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru definitely doesn’t want to fight Ino or Sakura, ever.

The arena is clean enough to proceed again.

A new set of names flashes on the screen. _Tsurugi Misumi vs Kankurou_.

One of Suna team steps forward and heads down the stairway - the one with the face paint and carrying something large on his back. He looks confident enough.

Misumi, the other Konoha genin from Kabuto’s team, also descends the staircase from the other side of the hall, his face hidden behind a mask like his teammate Yoroi.

“Unlike Yoroi, I don’t go easy on kids,” Misumi declares. “I’m warning you. Once I get hold of you, it’s over. You’d better give up then. This won’t take long.”

Kankurou smirks, lowering the vaguely person-shaped object from his back. It’s heavy, from the sound it makes as it hits the floor, completely wrapped in bandages with only a tuft of what looks like fur sticking out of the top.

“I guess I’ll end this quickly too, old man.”

Hayate signals the match to start, and backs off as Misumi immediately runs towards Kankurou without preamble. “I don’t know what kind of weapon that thing is, but you won’t get a chance to use it.”

He aims a punch at Kankurou, who easily blocks it with his free hand.

“Victory to the swiftest,” Misumi gloats as his limbs and torso suddenly go lax and start twisting around Kankurou’s body like a snake. He immediately immobilises all of Kankuro’s arms and legs, and has both forearms coiled around Kankurou’s neck in opposing directions.

_That is_ freaky _as_ , Kiba thinks to himself.

Misumi continues gloating about his ability to dislocate all his joints and use chakra to control his body. He starts constricting all of his limbs, tightening his hold around Kankurou’s neck. “Give up now or you will die.”

Kankurou doesn’t look concerned at all. “Moron. You’re the one that’s going to die,” he taunts just as Misumi snaps his neck. Kankurou’s head flops foward and he goes limp in Misumi’s hold.

Kiba can smell the collective freakout in the scents of several spectators at the incredibly abrupt murder of a contestant.

Then Kankurou’s body starts to make a cracking noise that is decidedly not organic. Bits start falling off the corpse’s face. The Suna-nin’s head spins around a full one-eighty degrees on its broken neck and the painted face is cracked to reveal a wooden one beneath.

“I guess it’s my turn,” Kankurou’s voice takes on a sinister edge and the face rattles.

Multiple jointed arms burst through the clothes of the Kankurou-shaped shell to lock around Misumi, tight and unforgiving, and the rest of the shell falls away to reveal a kugutsu puppet, the character for  _Karasu_ etched into its chin.

The mummified object on the floor starts to move, and the bandages loosen, arcing outwards to reveal the real Kankurou. Chakra threads glimmer in the light from Kankurou’s hand leading to the puppet.

“Y’know, I bet you’ll be even more flexible if I do this,” Kankurou says, smiling with his teeth.

There’s fear in Misumi’s eyes as he hurriedly attempts to surrender.

He doesn’t do it fast enough to prevent the chorus of bones snapping under the puppet’s merciless crushing grip, and he chokes, unable to get enough air to scream.

Misumi falls completely limp, and Kankurou just shrugs nonchalantly when Hayate levels a stare at him.

“The winner of this match is Kankurou.”

\---

“Freaks, we are surrounded by freaks,” Kiba complains, dramatically and not quite under his breath, as Misumi is carried away by the medical team.

Kurenai smacks the back of his head. “Kiba,” she says in that way that is supposed to be chastising but is really to hide her own amusement. Kiba makes an indignant huffing noise.

Hinata fights a smile. Shino side-eyes Kiba because he’s pretty sure Kiba is including him in that statement and Shino does not appreciate that inference at all.

\---

The next match is between Sakura and Ino.

Shikamaru doesn't understand their weird feud slash rivalry over Sasuke and he doesn't particularly want to. He practically grew up with Ino and Chouji so he knows enough about Ino's friendship with Sakura in the early years.

He remembers when they had the ‘falling out’ and the way that Ino sometimes forgot and would excitedly mention showing something to Sakura before she realised that she couldn't really do that anymore. She never said it outright, but they could tell even then that she missed her.

Ino has the upper hand in the match now, but she doesn't finish it when she gets the chance to. Instead Ino looks stricken at the last minute and her punch turns into an open-handed slap.

Sakura looks irritated, clearly taking it as not only a physical slap in the face. She then starts to insult Ino’s techniques and hair, calling her complacent and vain and hardly worth her time.

Ino absolutely falls for the taunts.

Ino practically screeches in outrage as she takes a kunai to her ponytail, severing a length of hair about as long as her forearm and chucking it at Sakura, blond strands scattering everywhere.

Next to him, Chouji mutters to himself, “I don't like Ino like this.”

Shikamaru doesn't either. Girls are crazy.

“Oh, I'm going to _make_ you give up this match, forehead-girl,” Ino snarls as she brings both her hands up, forming a circle with her index and middle fingers.

Shikamaru wants to facepalm himself. The Shintenshin almost never works on moving targets. What the hell does she think she's doing?

Sakura clearly thinks the same thing with the self-satisfied look on her face as she breaks down the way Shintenshin works out loud. “You've lost it, Ino. If you miss, you'll be completely vulnerable to attack. And you will, because unlike you, I don't move like a tortoise.”

A vein practically pops on Ino's forehead. “You don't know shit, Sakura! I'll make you say you give up with your own damn mouth!”

Sakura starts to move and Ino takes aim with her seal. “Shintenshin no jutsu!”

The two go still for a moment, Ino's body limp.

The probability of the jutsu working is low, but Shikamaru hopes it did work, otherwise Ino is _screwed_.

Sakura lifts her head, assessing herself.

“Too bad, Ino. You let it all go to your head.”

_Shit_.

Sakura shifts, clearly getting ready to attack when she almost falls on her face.

Chakra rope is wrapped around her ankles.

“Finally,” Ino says, moving from her knees into a crouch, firmly stepping on the other end of the chakra rope with her foot.

“As if I could be so easily manipulated by you. My chakra rope uses my hair as a medium. You're not going _anywhere_.”

Shikamaru will admit he didn't see that feint coming, considering how many years Ino has made a fuss about her hair.

Ino brings her hands up to take aim again.

“There's no way I can miss now,” Ino says triumphantly. “Shintenshin no jutsu!”

Sakura falls backwards thanks to the chakra rope when she visibly staggers from the force of the jutsu taking over, laying prone for a few seconds.

Naruto is shouting again, yelling at Sakura not to give in to the Sasuke-obsessed freak.

“You realise that Sakura is also a Sasuke-obsessed freak too, right,” Kiba calls out to Naruto pointedly. Naruto makes an indignant squawking noise and yells at Kiba to shut up.

Sakura opens her eyes, and gets to her feet. The smile that spreads on her face is definitely Ino's. She raises Sakura's hand. “Examiner.”

Hayate tilts his head.

“I, Haruno Sakura, gi-”

“Come on, Sakura-chan!” Naruto's yelling gets louder.

Shikamaru kind of hopes Kiba will punch him, Naruto is always so damn noisy.

Ino scowls up at Naruto with Sakura's face, opening Sakura's mouth again, and then freezes.

Sakura's body starts to shake, and she starts to hold her head in her hands, an unholy keening noise escaping her lips.

Hayate looks at her warily. “Are you…giving up?”

“Hell _no_!” Sakura practically spits out, still holding her head.

“Get out, Ino, or I'm gonna make you regret it!” Sakura’s roar reverberates throughout the hall. “ _Shannaro-_!”

The air ripples with the burst of chakra that follows as Ino's consciousness returns to her body.

\---

Ino’s eyes snap open after a second.

“Who the hell has two minds?” Ino immediately hisses, trying to catch her breath.

Sakura is also panting from the effort of expelling Ino's consciousness. “I have layers,” Sakura smirks. “Twice as smart as you are, too.”

“That must be why your forehead is so big,” Ino quips, smiling as well. “You need all that extra room.”

They both propel themselves off the floor for one last exchange of blows, but they're both grinning even as they feel their punches connect.

\---

Hayate looks down from one unconscious kunoichi to another.

“Due to the double knockout, there is no winner for the fourth match.”

Shikamaru shakes his head as he senses Asuma disappearing from behind him to go and retrieve their teammate.

Women are weird and troublesome and he definitely doesn’t want to fight Ino or Sakura, ever.

\---

Sakura and Ino sleep, propped against the wall at the platform, shoulder to shoulder. Maybe it’s the light, but Hinata can see the ghosts of their smiles still, in the curve of their lips.

Unbidden, she thinks of Hanabi that day she hesitated against her baby sister, just long enough for Hanabi to take her down and seal both of their fates.

They are strangers to each other now, kept apart by protocol and their own choices, and Hinata hasn’t thought of Hanabi for a long time.

She wonders if Hanabi ever thinks of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hard to give anyone from Team 8 any meaningful perspective on the Sakura/Ino match, so I had Shikamaru step in there. I did play around with the dialogue a little because the canon match was a bit tedious and full of flashbacks that the spectators don't actually see. I hope to give Sakura some real growth later, but right now, I just decided to turn up the snark and end the match slightly more positively than the original (not that the original was that angsty or anything).
> 
> Ino is such a nice kid, smart and well-rounded and then gets dumbed down by Kishi to fight with Sakura over a guy. /shakes head/


	17. Natural Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are battles that cannot be won by determination alone.

The fifth set of names appear on the screen. _Temari vs Tenten_.

Hinata and Kiba exchange glances. The chances one of them might be paired to fight the one remaining Suna genin, and likely the most dangerous, are growing with each match-up that they don't get selected for.

The Suna shinobi are also way more dangerous than the average Konoha genin, from what they've seen so far of two of the Suna team. They don't expect Temari to be any different.

Temari carries herself in a way that is no-nonsense, her strides long and self assured. She looks down her nose almost dismissively at Tenten just as Hayate tells them to begin.

Tenten looks determined, keeping herself at perfect, textbook distance from her opponent. Not too close, not too far.

Temari immediately scoffs through her nose, the long metal bar strapped vertically to her back creaking slightly.

“I'll give you a chance to strike first,” Temari says breezily. “Because you won't have a chance otherwise.”

Tenten looks offended but she quickly schools her expression. “Don't mind if I do then,” Tenten says as she leaps into the air, releasing a fistful of shuriken at her opponent, her aim true.

A split-second blur, and the shuriken are scattered to the ground. Tenten looks shocked that not a single one landed the target.

From the aghast expression on Rock Lee's face and even the surprised expression on Gai's face, it's not because Tenten missed, it’s that the opponent managed to block or dodge at such speed it barely registered as movement to the naked eye.

Temari smirks. “Is this all I can expect from you?”

Tenten’s expression darkens, and her gaze flickers between Temari and her feet. She's gauging the distance.

Tenten pulls out a scroll and leaps high off the ground, spinning in mid air as she throws the scroll open, using the centrifugal force of the spin to retrieve and throw a seemingly endless number of weapons at a rapid clip, the arc in their trajectories casting the endless stream of kunai and shuriken into a wide area, wide enough for Hayate to move back further.

It's like a storm of metal and instantly Hinata is reminded of a rain of poisoned senbon. For most genin, it would be extremely difficult to dodge every single one.

Hinata knows how that fight ended, and she gets a sinking feeling about this one too.

Another blur of movement and the rapid-fire clattering of metal striking metal. Weapons are littered all over the arena, some embedded into the concrete.

Temari doesn't have a single scratch. She hasn't even broken a sweat.

“That's a tessen, an iron fan,” Kiba says.

Temari has managed to remove the tessen from her back and get it partially open in that split-second haze of movement. A large painted circle is visible from the open part of the tessen.

“This is the first star,” Temari says, balancing her tessen on the rounded edge of the pivot end. “There are three in total. When you see all three, this match is over.”

\---

“Tenten cannot win.” Shino’s tone is solemn. “That is because Temari’s ability is her _tenteki_.”

Shino's chosen familiars are insects, and he always remains aware of their innate weaknesses, their natural enemies and predators. Some battles cannot be won by determination alone. There will be opponents that he can never defeat in a one on one match. Temari’s skillset is at a natural advantage to Tenten's weapon-based taijutsu, and Temari is clearly far more experienced in battle.

“Unless she diversifies her attacks, she will not be able to win this match.”

Tenten activates two more scrolls for her Soushouryuu attack, but the doubled weapons and doubled speed make very little difference.

The third star appears after Tenten attempts, and fails, to cut Temari down by manipulating all the fallen weapons using chakra strings.

Temari takes up her open tessen and swings. “Fuuton: Kamaitachi!”

\---

Tenten loses her match, knocked out and bleeding all over from cuts caused by the chakra-infused galewinds.

Rock Lee almost starts an unauthorised fight with Temari before Gai stops him.

\---

Cleanup takes a bit longer this time to remove the truly staggering amount of weapons Tenten managed to unleash from three scrolls.

Lee has calmed down in the meantime, and now he and Naruto are making baseless predictions about being in the next match.

Sakura and Ino have woken up, and rejoin their respective teams. Hinata watches Ino extract a promise from her teammates to go as hard as she did and Naruto fuss over Sakura like a mother hen.

Suddenly the buzz of conversation quietens - the screen is shuffling through names again.

Naruto and Lee are both chanting that they will be next and even Kiba and Hinata are ready to get this stage over with.

They all slump against the platform railing in disappointment as the next names are confirmed.

_Nara Shikamaru vs Tsuchi Kin_.

\---

Kiba used to play truant with Shikamaru, so he's at least thirty percent sure that Shikamaru might just roll over and give up so he didn't have to bother.

But from the looks of things, Shikamaru is at least going to try and keep his newly minted promise to Ino on pain of being told on to his mother.

Kiba shudders to himself - he wouldn't want his own mother on his case either.

The female Oto-nin seems to have already seen what Shikamaru's clan jutsu is. They must have fought each other before in the second stage.

She easily evades his shadow, and her weapon of choice is senbon.

...Yep, he's definitely going to keep associating senbon with liquefied Ame-nin for a while. He glances at Hinata and she looks discomforted as well.

She launches two senbon attached to tiny bells at Shikamaru, who manages to dodge them, and the senbon embed themselves into the far wall behind him.

Shikamaru smirks at Kin when she readies another pair of senbon.

“That's an old trick - you're going to throw a decoy with a bell with the real one hidden in its shadow, so while I'm focused on the sound of the decoy, you'll get me with the real one,” Shikamaru drawls. “You won't get me with that.”

Kin sneers. “Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't worry, this will be quick.”

She grasps something in mid-air and chakra strings glimmer in the light. The bells behind Shikamaru ring. The sound isn't loud but it's piercing, and it sets Kiba's teeth a little on edge.

They see Shikamaru's eyes start to glaze over slightly, not quite focusing on the Oto-nin in front of him. She immediately throws a pair of senbon at him, and Shikamaru just manages to avoid a critical hit, the needles burying themselves into the fleshier parts of his shoulder. Ino hisses in sympathy pains further down the platform.

“The bells cause illusions,” Hinata murmurs. They recognise the signs of someone under the thrall of genjutsu. “They re-layer the illusion whatever she rings them, so pain won't take him out of it.”

Kin snickers as Shikamaru throws a kunai in the wrong direction. “You don't even know which one is the real one. Don't worry, I'll tenderise you slowly.”

Shikamaru is still staring at something that isn't there when he speaks. “I thought you said you were going to finish this quickly?”

“Already giving up from the pain?” She sneers again, getting ready to throw another cluster of senbon. “I'll put you out of your misery then.”

She pulls her hand back and suddenly stops mid-movement.

“Kagemane no jutsu, successful,” Shikamaru says, wincing as he tugs senbon out of his shoulder, spots of blood staining his jacket sleeve. The genjutsu finally clears, and he's no longer seeing fifteen Kin.

“Your shadow was nowhere near me,” Kin says angrily as his shadow gets thicker and the hold becomes stronger.

He tilts his head down to the right so she can have a better look at the chakra strings in her hand. “Your chakra strings aren't supposed to create a shadow at that height and thickness.”

He turns back to face her straight on. “My shadow can stretch and change shape. Too bad.”

She glares at him. “Then what? All you can do is make me so what you're doing. You can't even attack with without hurting yourself. You can't even make me surrender.”

Shikamaru shrugs, reaching down to his shuriken holster. She does the same and looks at him in disbelief. “You can't be serious.”

“Hey, how do you know I wouldn't cut off my nose to spite my face,” Shikamaru says mildly as he takes aim and throws.

“You're bluffing!” There's an edge of fear in Kin's voice as the shuriken fly at each other's heads.

Then Shikamaru throws his head back, spine curving into an impressive backbend, and Kin opens her mouth to call him out when she smacks her head against the wall right behind her. She collapses to the floor in a heap when Shikamaru releases the Kagemane.

“...and that's one down,” Shikamaru turns his backbend into a backflip so he doesn't crack his own head on the ground.

“The winner of this match is Nara Shikamaru.”

Kiba whistles lowly, impressed.

Actually this explains a lot about how they managed to find so many ways to dodge Iruka-sensei back then, and it was Shikamaru’s suggestions that usually got them out of class the longest.

\---

Asuma sends his best shit-eating grin in Kurenai's direction when she looks his way after Hayate declares the winner of the sixth match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the notification spam if you got any? I just wanted to get these two battles out so I can concentrate on Kiba and Hinata's fights.
> 
> Tenten is hard to write, because it feels like it wouldn't be true to Tenten's chara foundation to give her other jutsu (esp this early in the story). I feel like Kishi just threw in a random girl onto Team Gai and then was like gotta throw her under the bus to show off how strong the Suna shinobi are, and then shoved her into a fridge for the rest of the entire series. I dunno. I'll try to figure something out for Tenten.
> 
> Also, the canon divergence will begin happening soon-ish after Hinata has her prelim match. So it won't follow canon as closely as before.


	18. Measuring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~I lied, canon divergence starts now.~~
> 
> The anger consumes him, like it once did many years ago. He was put in his place then. He will do the same to her.

Hinata stiffens as the next set of names is displayed on the screen.

 _Hyuuga Hinata vs Hyuuga Neji_.

The sound of her pulse in her ears suddenly becomes deafening.

She vaguely hears Kiba calling her name, but the walls are closing in and she can’t move.

“Hinata,” Kurenai appears in front of her, the edges of her genjutsu projection bright with familiar chakra. Kiba and Shino don’t know, they don’t know anything but the surface of the Hyuuga - but Kurenai has glimpsed the depths of her failures, her lacking. Hinata holds onto the memory of a warm embrace like a lifeline.

Hinata lets out a breath she doesn’t realise she was holding. “Sensei.”

“This changes nothing. We’ll catch you,” Kurenai says. “Shino, Kiba, me - we’ll catch you. This is just another mission.”

The edges fall away in Hinata’s tunnel vision, and she blinks slowly as she’s released from the genjutsu.

Kurenai’s hand is brushed against her forehead, and she can feel both Kiba and Shino’s hands on her shoulders, their warmth radiating through her jacket. It’s hard to find the words, and her hands are still clammy with fear.

But this is just another mission, and that, she can do.

“ _Ittekimasu_.” Her voice is not loud, but it is steady.

\---

Hinata hasn’t looked directly into the eyes of another Hyuuga for almost a year.

Neji’s eyes are filled with a barely disguised anger, disgust.

 _...Nothing new then_ , she thinks to herself, and realises the thought sounds like something Kiba would say. It’s a happy realisation, another drop of colour, another bead of warmth repelling the shadows.

It must show on her face, for Neji’s glare darkens and his not-quite killing intent is no longer hidden. Neji will not hesitate to use these preliminary rounds to crush her if he gets the chance.

Hinata is a Main Family reject, but the elders won't tolerate such flagrant disobedience from a Branch member. Neji would no doubt be severely punished again. Perhaps he is counting on the fact that no other Hyuuga are present here, and that no one will go out of their way to describe the match in detail.

Once, Hinata longed for the dark to claim her, the way it stole away her mother, when getting back up just one more time felt like moving a mountain.

But she is no longer that girl alone in the dark.

She is Yuuhi Kurenai’s student, and the teammate of Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. She told them that she would go and come back safely, and she will keep that promise.

“Neji-niisan,” she says evenly as she lowers herself into a juuken kamae so familiar she could do it in her sleep. “Let’s do this.”

\---

Neji has spent years trying to quell the rage he feels towards the Main Family. Trying to accept that which could not be changed, to accept the protocol designed to keep the Byakugan firmly and securely in Hyuuga hands.

He came close to succeeding once, to making peace with his father's sacrifice, until the Main Family had allowed, had pushed for, Hanabi to supplant Hinata as successor.

Hinata had _let_ them, had cleanly unshackled herself from the responsibilities of Clan Heir, protected from the Juin by the simple circumstance of being born female. Her weakness and cowardice had stripped away any meaning to his father's death and he despises her for it, despises himself for ever wanting to be her protector, for his childish ignorance.

It was, and is, infuriating, galling; and Neji wants to tear them all down, expose the hypocrisy of the Main Family, the injustice of being held hostage to the Juin. That his father’s rightful place as the most talented Byakugan user of his generation should have been thwarted by mere minutes and the wrong gender.

The anger consumes him, like it once did many years ago. He was put in his place then. He will do the same to her.

\---

It doesn’t take long for Hinata to realise that she has no hope of winning this match. Neji is out to hurt, and his strikes are fast, merciless and accurate. He’s always been stronger, better at the juuken and he would hardly have been slacking off in his year and a half of becoming a genin. She won't be able to land a single hit on him at this level.

She can't win, but Shino, or Kiba, may have to fight Neji in the main tournament. She hears the echoes of Kurenai and Hayate at the back of her head.  _ Never forget the bigger picture _ .

She can’t win, but she can try to help Shino and Kiba win. Everything has a weakness.

Neji may be a Hyuuga genius, but he's only thirteen, and even he cannot have mastered the limits of the juuken. Not yet.

The juuken is not the only thing she has at her disposal. She doesn't let herself hesitate when she forms a seal, so Neji only has a split second to see the burst of chakra before she disappears.

\---

“Sensei, did you teach her how to do that?” Kiba asks Kurenai as Hinata reappears behind Neji in a flash, kunai drawn.

Kurenai shakes her head. “I didn't. The Shunshin is a technique that wastes a lot of chakra if you have less than excellent control. Most people won’t achieve that kind of control only six months after graduating the Academy.”

Most genin take a year or two to gain the control needed to perform the Shunshin. She had no idea Hinata had come this far in just over two months under Hayate’s tutelage.

\---

Even with the Body Flicker technique, Hinata does not expect to scratch Neji. It’s not true teleportation after all, merely speed.

She just needs to know - even if he can see her, can he keep up with the Shunshin?

She’s seen her father fight as a child, and she was expected to observe, pay attention to the techniques that would be passed down to the next of the Main Family. Techniques that are not shown to the Branch. It was a way to maintain the divide between the skills of the Main Family and the Branch, another way to keep the Branch in line.

She flickers out of his reach once again, using her kunai to parry the chakra-charged strikes of the juuken until she has her answer.

“Hinata-sama,” Neji jeers, “how long exactly do you think you can keep evading?”

She doesn’t reply. His mocking doesn’t matter.

He’s close, but not yet fast enough to keep up with the Shunshin and overwhelm his opponent before they can flicker away. But even with the Shunshin, Hinata does not have the true upper hand. The Byakugan can see in all directions after all, and he will block her kunai easily enough. Her chakra will reach its limits in time, and then she will be at the juuken’s mercy once again.

She lets herself slow down, to give off the appearance of tiring. She deliberately leaves an opening, thrusting her palm towards his abdomen.

He takes the bait, catching her arm and striking with his fingers; and she feels, sees, the chakra flow in her right arm practically stop. She feels his other hand shove against her sternum and pain explodes in her chest as she is thrown backwards.

She tastes copper on her tongue and turns her head to the side to cough up the blood welling up inside her mouth.

“You...you can see the tenketsu,” she breathes, her heart thundering behind her ribs.

“That’s right,” Neji sneers. “I can already see the tenketsu. Even when I couldn’t, I could see what you did. Like a spoiled Main Family member, you got to run away.”

“To flee.”

“Your freedom is paid for by the subjugation of the Branch, by my father’s blood.”

Hinata can see what's coming next, and braces herself.

“Juukenhou,” Neji slides into a stance she's seen once before, “Hakke Rokujuuyonshou.”

 _You can't run from this_ , he doesn't need to say.

She spills her water canteen over the floor and gathers her chakra.

\---

One hundred and twenty-six strikes to her tenketsu later, Hinata is face-down on the ground, her left arm curled under her protectively. Her body feels like lead, and she can understand why the Hyuuga like to brag about being Konoha's strongest. She can understand why they call Neji a genius. She can vaguely hear Kiba and Naruto shouting, yelling her name.

She just needs to move one finger.

-

Neji’s Byakugan recedes, confident in his victory. Hinata's does not.

Two fingers.

-

“I have closed off most of your tenketsu. You won't be able to get up anymore,” Neji says.

Three fingers.

-

He turns to Hayate. “Examiner, declare the match.”

Four fingers.

-

She wants to know what Hayate-sensei looks like right now, if he’s disappointed, if he’s proud, but she doesn't have enough energy to spare the extra focus right now.

Five fingers.

She clenches her left hand.

\---

The match is over, and Hayate opens his mouth to declare the winner, when five needles form out of the water puddled across the floor, hurtling across the arena and embedding themselves along Hinata's right arm.

She grunts in pain, but her right arm starts to move, and Hayate realises that she's restored the chakra flow to that arm.

\---

“That's impossible,” Neji hisses as he reactivates his Byakugan. “You shouldn't be able to use your chakra at all after that-”

Hinata pushes herself up to her knees, both hands curled into fists, and more water needles form, rising into the air.

“Just because I can't see the tenketsu, doesn't mean I can't remember where you struck my arm,” she coughs out another mouthful of blood. “All I need to do is hit the same places.”

“I ran away, because I made a promise a long time ago. To not be trapped.” Her breathing is heavier than before. “I won't apologise for it. I won't cling to a role thrust upon me by someone else just so you can feel better about your father.”

She looks at him with pity, with clarity, and his vision turns red around the edges. He lunges at her, chakra at his fingertips, and he knows just where to hit to end it.

Water needles hurtle at him from behind, and it's futile, her last throes of resistance, and he dodges them all.

Her eyes are clear and unafraid as he closes the distance.

He wants her to be afraid.

The chakra in his hand doubles, and he sweeps his hand forward.

The examiner appears in front of him, two fingertips resting against his hitae-ate. His limbs are being restrained by Kakashi, Gai and Kurenai. Kakashi is gripping his right arm, and has already dispelled the chakra he had gathered in his hand before.

“This match is over.” Hayate’s voice is firm, edged with warning.

Neji's face twists into a mocking sneer. “All of you stepping in to stop me? Another privilege of the Main Family?”

“Do _not_ ,” Hayate says slowly, deliberately, “make me repeat myself.”

“Neji, you made a passionate promise to me not to let your grudge against the Main House cloud your judgement,” Gai says, his arm crooked around the front of Neji's collar, gripping him on the opposite shoulder.

“I did no such thing,” Neji snaps, and Gai gasps dramatically because Neji just had to have been assigned to the team of a crazy man in a green jumpsuit who wouldn't know the meaning of dignity if it bit him in the head.

Kurenai lets go of his other arm. “Take him back up,” she says crisply to Gai.

\---

Hinata is eased onto the stretcher, still unable to move the lower half of her body. Kurenai squeezes her left hand, keeping step with the medic-team as they move the stretcher.

“You did so well.” Kurenai runs her hands through Hinata's hair, straightening out her fringe.

Hinata’s breathing is still uneven but her smile is real; lighter than her smile has ever been. “You caught me. Hayate-sensei too.”

Shino and Kiba catch up with the stretcher.

“That asshole! He's your cousin! How could he do that to you?” Kiba looks wilder than usual, practically shaking with anger.

Shino has his hand firmly clamped around Kiba's arm. “I had to stop him from trying to punch Neji.”

That sets Kiba off on another rant, but Shino gives him a look that promises Kiba will find himself choking on a mouthful of bugs if he doesn’t shut up immediately. Kiba shoves violently at Shino in response but the tirade stops.

Shino turns to Hinata, his other hand closing around her right. “You overdid it.”

Hinata shakes her head slightly. “I got what I needed to know.”

The medic-team clear their throats pointedly. “I’m sure this conversation can wait until later.”

\---

Kakashi and Gai escort Neji back up to the platform, and Lee welcomes him back, though his welcome is a bit subdued. Lee is aware he has no position to speak from about Hyuuga clan affairs, but it is against Lee’s Gai-given code of honour to kick an opponent while they’re down.

Lee notes a single line of dampness along the back of Neji’s jacket, which is odd, as Neji was not really using his full strength at all. His shirt collar and sleeve edges are dry and clean.

How odd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did just move Hinata's match up before Kiba's. There's a semi-legit reason for it, but mostly because canon Kiba is a little more of a dick than my Kiba (he evolved a little quicker emotionally) and it significantly changes the flow of Kiba and Naruto's fight (esp. since it's a character building fight for Naruto in canon). And yes, Neji's emotional constipation here is a bit more personal and he's a lot more angry and less elites vs dropouts blah blah than canon.
> 
> Also, in case you're wondering - morau, you just pulled two new skills out from nowhere and why can Hinata do a water-based jutsu already whaaat - ok 1) I've tried to establish that Hinata is already leaps ahead of the general genin game with chakra control, esp with the Byakugan and also Hayate, 2) I don't care if you hate filler arcs, but before the timeskip Hinata learns to decimate a giant colony of insects (that aren't Shino's) with Mizu Hari/Water Needles because she's fucking good at manipulating chakra before a lot of the other rookies get around to getting powerups (and also before Kishi decided to introduce elemental affinities to the audience so he could upgrade the Rasengan).
> 
> Also it frikkin bugs me that they made Hinata oblivious to Neji shutting off her tenketsu for the first part of the canon fight - sure she can't see the tiny holes but she can see the chakra network and chakra flow so why would she not notice that something isn't right? Unless Kishi is trying to say Byakugan users can't see their own chakra network, but that would make no goddamn sense since they can see through walls and trees.


	19. Differences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s been stupid enough times today.

He wants to feel Neji's nose break under his fist, and he kind of wants to grab Shino and shake him until the kikaichuu fall out for stopping him.

There’s a small, still-rational voice of him inside that sounds irritatingly like Shino telling him that Neji would send him flying before that would ever happen.

Nothing infuriates the Inuzuka like pack being hurt, like pack hurting their own, and Kiba can’t understand how anyone, especially her own blood, could do that to Hinata.

The medic team starts to move past, and Hinata’s right hand brushes against the cuff of his sleeve. Her breathing is still ragged, there’s still blood on her chin, and Kiba has seen the medic-nin’s looks of detached, professional concern on his sister’s face enough times to know that Hinata’s injuries are more serious than they appear.

“I’m fine.” Hinata is the quietest of their team, quieter than Shino. When either of them choose to speak, it’s usually important, and doubly so for Hinata.

“ _I’m fine_ ,” Hinata repeats herself, looking into his eyes; and Kiba can smell the conviction, the reassurance, the promise in her words. There’s a reminder, unspoken, that their mission isn’t over yet.

Hinata disappears around the corner where Kiba cannot follow. Her scent lingers in the bloodstains left behind in the arena.

When they start to scrub her blood off to make way for the next match, he irrationally wants to snap at them to leave them be, to stop erasing the traces of her struggle. His skin feels too tight from the lack of outlet, from this forced restraint.

Kurenai’s fingers dig into his shoulder, grounding him. “Focus.”

Akamaru barks sharply and they look up at the screen.

_Uzumaki Naruto vs Inuzuka Kiba_.

\---

Naruto remembers a little girl being pushed to the ground, being called names for making the mistake of running into the wrong person. She's already apologised, but that doesn't matter to bullies.

He gets involved, because what else does he have to do? There's no one looking for him, no one waiting for him anyway.

Sometimes a fight, getting beaten up,is the only time he gets to feel human touch against his skin.

He remembers the light reflected in her pale-eyed stare, the wonder on her tear-streaked face. There's no time to exchange names when she gets whisked away by a man who has the same pale eyes as she does.

He remembers laying in the dirt, bruised and sore, and desperately wanting to be her. To have someone looking for her. To have a family, a clan. Everything he's ever wanted.

As he watches her now, getting beaten into the floor by a boy with the same eyes, he wonders how he missed the same bone-deep loneliness in her eyes then that he saw in his own reflection. Maybe he hadn't wanted to notice, then.

They're both older now, and Naruto's found a family in his team. He hopes she has too, a real one.

They didn't know each other's names back then, but they do now.

He grips the railing as she is thrown across the floor, unmoving, and yells her name, yells at her to get up.

\---

Of their team, Kiba is the most open, the most in tune with their emotions. He's quick to laugh and quick to anger and Shino thinks he's justified in being worried that Kiba will be too caught up in his emotions to fight properly.

The names for the next match are blinking at them, and Shino grabs Kiba's arm again.

“Clear your head,” he urges. “Hinata provoked Neji for a reason, for _our_ benefit, for the main tournament. Don't waste her efforts.”

\---

Kiba kind of hates it when Shino is right, and Shino tends to be right a goddamned lot.

The Inuzuka don't enjoy repressing their emotions, but they are also shinobi and sometimes that's just what has to be done.

He makes his way to the centre of the arena to face off against Naruto, Akamaru at his side. He can do this, can put aside his concern, his anger, his guilt (because how often did he not question why Hinata was always the first to arrive and the last to leave on every mission and training session, how often did he choose not to look closer when she refused to let them walk her home every time they offered).

It’s his turn to stand up for Team 8 now.

\---

In another lifetime, Kiba might have crowed loudly about being matched up with Naruto, utterly confident about his ability to defeat the _dobe_ , the dead-last of their year.

But there’s nothing to crow about - there’s always someone stronger, like the Suna genin, like Hyuuga Neji, like Shino. Kiba knows better than to dick around on a mission now.

Hayate tells them to begin, and Kiba immediately crouches down and forms the seal for the Shikyaku no Jutsu. His nails start to grow, curving into sharp claws. His fangs become sharper and chakra builds up in all of his arms and legs as he gets onto all fours. The scents around him intensify, and it’s like the world comes into focus after a haze.

Naruto _radiates_ determination, and Kiba remembers the first stage exams where Naruto managed to steel the wills of over twenty other teams into taking the tenth question at the risk of remaining genin forever if they got it wrong. Remembers laughing at Naruto screwing up his Henge in class, remembers Naruto yelling at all of them that he would become Hokage and show them all.

They’re not close, and Naruto is sometimes the most annoying person Kiba has ever met. But there’s no triumph in crushing people’s dreams, and Kiba has a job to do.

“Let’s go!”

Kiba rushes at Naruto with his chakra-augmented speed, throwing his weight behind his elbow and driving it into Naruto’s gut before Naruto can even track him with his eyes.

Naruto goes down with a choking noise, skidding across the floor from the force of the blow.

The Inuzuka specialise in hit-and-runs. Most genin would lose consciousness from that concentration of impact in their solar plexus.

He picks up the changing scent of Naruto’s emotional state before he even sees Naruto move.

Naruto is still awake.

_That is some impressive stamina_ , Kiba thinks to himself, as Naruto gets to his feet.

\---

Kiba used to laugh at him back in Academy, used to look at him funny sometimes, but Naruto appreciated every scrap of attention, every scrap of companionship he could glean from Kiba and Shikamaru and Chouji before the school day ended and he had to go back to the silence of his empty apartment and the rejection of the villagers.

He appreciates Kiba taking him seriously now. He needs to get stronger, better, to catch up to Sasuke, to make the village see that Uzumaki Naruto is more than just the Kyuubi and the dead-last.

Naruto tastes blood in his mouth, and he’s not entirely sure if one of his ribs is cracked or not.

“It’ll take more than that to keep me down,” Naruto says, grinning. “Use your damn dog if you have to.”

\---

There’s blood on Naruto’s teeth, but Naruto’s grin is just as real as the smile he saw on Hinata’s face as she got carried away.

Kiba glances at Akamaru and Akamaru barks, _ready to go_.

“You’ll regret it, ramen-freak,” Kiba uses the childhood moniker without any real bite. He tosses a Soldier Pill into Akamaru’s mouth, then pops one into his own.

Akamaru’s fur stands on end, turning into a deep red. Kiba forms the seal for Juujin Bunshin.

\---

“Jeez, Naruto’s in trouble now,” Shikamaru winces as Kiba and Akamaru thrash Naruto with speed, taijutsu, and an extremely liberal use of smoke bombs.

He’s not sure which one is which, but they both move incredibly fast on all fours, unhindered by the limits of the arena as they race up walls and strike in tandem, using downward force and motion to their advantage as well.

The Inuzuka like to fight unpredictably, moving their already low centre of gravity forward or back to suit their claw swipes or to use capoeira-like spinning kicks to throw their opponent off their feet and leaving them vulnerable to being struck from above or below. Or both, in this case.

Naruto has no time to form seals as he barely keeps up with Kiba’s movements enough to avoid a critical hit.

“Kiba’s lucky,” Chouji says what a lot of the spectators aren’t saying. “He got matched up with Naruto.”

Shikamaru kind of agrees. Naruto isn’t completely hopeless, since he’s still standing, but unless he comes up with an amazing technique, he’s doomed.

\---

This match is lasting way longer than Kiba would like. Kiba does not want to drag this out into an endurance contest.

He locks eyes with Akamaru and they both nod in sync, gathering their chakra.

“Juujin Taijutsu Ougi: Gatsuuga!”

The metallic scent of Naruto’s blood is like a beacon as they spin too fast to see around them, slamming into Naruto hard enough to send him flying.

\---

Naruto thought Kiba’s first blow was painful. He was so wrong.

There’s blood not just on his teeth now, but actually trickling out the corners of his mouth.

If his rib wasn’t cracked before, it definitely is now.

He hears the crack and hiss of another smoke bomb, the sound of of Kiba and Akamaru rushing at him again, and forces himself to _think_.

\---

Naruto’s scent changes again after the second Gatsuuga, albeit slightly muted by the hazy scent of the smoke bomb, and Kiba stands back to assess what’s going on.

The smoke clears, and Kiba’s looking at two of him.

Kiba smirks. “Your Henge won’t work on me, Naruto. I can smell you.”

It’s a novelty, to be able to punch yourself, and Kiba smashes his fist into Naruto wearing his face.

There’s a puff of smoke, and Kiba freezes when he sees Akamaru lying on the ground.

How could he have gotten it wrong? They’ve been hitting Naruto enough to have his scent on both of them, but how could he have gotten them mixed up?

He turns to look at the other him in anger and Kiba rears back for another punch.

Reason catches up with him too late.

\---

Kiba’s moment of doubt is just long enough for Naruto to break his second Henge and take advantage of the opening to flying kick Kiba in the face.

Akamaru whimpers weakly from the floor, the Juujin Bunshin already broken by Kiba’s mistake.

\---

Nothing infuriates the Inuzuka like pack being hurt, like pack hurting their own.

Kiba snarls, ready to make Naruto pay, lunging at him with another Shikyaku burst of speed.

Naruto doesn’t dodge. Kiba feels his claws sinking into Naruto’s forearm, and the sharp scent of fresh blood reminds him that he’s let his emotions get away with him again.

Naruto borrows Kiba’s momentum to hurl Kiba backwards over his head.

Kiba manages to avoid slamming into the wall, skidding to a stop.

_Calm the fuck down_ , Kiba wants to yell at himself, and sinks his fangs into his own hand. His own blood drips onto the floor. He can start to feel the after-effects of using the Soldier Pill beginning to come on. Even the chakra concentrated to his nose has started to recede.

He hates endurance fights, especially hates them when he still has another set of Soldier Pills in his pouch, and really doesn’t want to be forced to use them. Not only do they become less effective if they get taken consecutively, but he’ll be completely trashed afterwards and then it’ll be days of forced bedrest.

“I really didn’t want to do this, but I’ll shred you down if I have to,” Kiba says to Naruto.

There’s tremors running through Naruto’s body, and the wounds on Naruto’s arms have stopped bleeding already. Considering how deep Kiba felt his claws go, it’s weird.

“Bring it.” Naruto’s smirk is taking on a feral edge.

Kiba grits his teeth and pops the second-last Soldier Pill into his mouth. The edges of exhaustion creeping into his limbs recedes, and chakra wells up within him again.

As the chakra returns to his nose, he starts to smell it, so faint it’s barely a wisp, like the last drip from a recently switched off tap.

The chakra is ancient, primordial, and Kiba hurriedly looks up at the Suna team, preparing himself for a bloodbath.

\---

“You don’t have the time to be looking around,” Naruto growls, as he forms the seal for Kage Bunshin. “I’ll finish this with my new secret move!”

\---

Kiba is surrounded by orange, and realises that the chakra he’s scenting is coming from Naruto.

He doesn’t have enough time to contemplate why when they close in.

“U-!” A fist slams into his face.

“Zu-Ma-” a kick to his left kidney, then another on his right, before being thrown into the air, “-Ki!”

Naruto drop-kicks him from above, and Kiba slams into the ground. “Naruto Rendan!”

\---

Kiba is holding onto consciousness thanks to the Soldier Pill, but he will be feeling this for a goddamned week, and wonders if it’s fucking karma for disparaging Sasuke’s move earlier.

He’s pretty sure it’s just Naruto and his clones’ cumulative arms and legs. And gravity.

The clones dissipate and Naruto is panting from exhaustion.

Kiba stares up at the ceiling. He could probably get up if he tried really hard, but if Naruto is really hiding crazy primordial chakra inside him, that would just be incredibly stupid. And he’s been stupid enough times today.

“What are you?” Kiba rasps, looking at Naruto again.

Naruto stiffens.

\---

After Mizuki, Naruto tried not to think about it. About the monster inside him. About the reason for the villagers’ contempt.

Kiba’s not asking an idle question, and it’s like Kiba’s eyes are looking right through him.

They aren’t close, but Kiba was one of the first people who looked at him like any other kid on the playground.

He really doesn’t want Kiba to look at him differently.

“I’m,” Naruto summons every ounce of bluster he has, “the one who’s going to become Hokage, obviously.”

\---

Uzumaki Naruto is not like the Suna genin.

Kiba is okay with that.

“I’ve got a favour to ask from the future Hokage then,” Kiba says with a grin, bringing his fist up.

Naruto looks stunned, as if Kiba had gotten up and roundhouse-kicked him the face. He remembers the same look on Hinata's face at their genin test.

“I won’t get to do it so...if you get to fight him, you’ve gotta put Neji in the ground for me, yeah? For Hinata.”

Naruto stares down at him, then his face breaks into a grin as well.

“Would’ve done it anyway,” Naruto says, bumping Kiba’s fist with his own.

It’s a promise.

Hayate declares the match to Uzumaki Naruto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep the fart, but it just didn't work. Kiba's nose is still his own undoing, but he was distracted by the Kyuubi/Gaara instead of the bouquet of smells in Naruto's fart. Did I just begin a bromance? I'll let you know when the muse tells me. 
> 
> I would like to take this opportunity to fangirl-scream my love at you all for reading, for commenting, for any kudos you left. You guys keep me motivated, and I love your takes on what I've been doing with Kishi's universe.
> 
> Other notes: I've removed the KakaIru tag because I don't know when I'm going to have any real KakaIru scenes, but it's there in the background. I'll re-add the tag later if I find a way to work them in without being random af.


	20. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata would fight monsters to stay right here, to fall asleep to the scent of _kinmokusei_ , to the hum of the fridge, to the faint sounds of the street at night.

Hinata’s eyes flutter closed, and she dreams as her body is cloaked in green-tinged healing chakra. Two medic-nin work on repairing the damage to the muscles in her chest and unblocking her tenketsu.

She’s three again. Her mother is having a good day, the first good day in a while, and tells her to come in so she can comb Hinata's hair.

Hinata is thrilled.

She sets Hinata down in front of a low dressing table, removes the cover of the table mirror. The mirror is tilted upwards and Hinata's still too short, too small, to be able to see into it from a kneeling position.

Her mother opens a box and takes out a wooden comb. Hinata admires the beautiful lacquer finish and the intricate carvings before her mother gently nudges Hinata from behind to face the table again.

The pull of the comb through her hair is soothing, methodical. She's still too short, too small, to see into the mirror, and Hinata wishes she were more grown up, taller, older. She would so very much like to see herself and her mother together in the same frame.

“Hinata.”

“Yes, okaa-sama?”

“Have you been getting along with your father?”

Hinata goes very still.

Her mother squeezes her shoulder. “This is just between us.”

Hinata shrinks into herself. She wants to call Hiashi scary, frightening, but neither of those words are quite the right ones, even if they're not the wrong ones.

“Otou-sama is...so far away.” Hinata clenches her hands against her knees. “He's so unhappy.”

The pull of the comb stops.

“I think looking at me makes otou-sama unhappy,” Hinata whispers, and suddenly she's glad she can't see into the mirror after all.

Her mother's arms close around her, and Hinata is terrified she's said the wrong thing when she feels her mother begin to tremble against her back.

“I'm sorry.” Hinata doesn’t understand why her mother’s voice cracks, or why her mother is apologising.

“I'm sorry I couldn't fix it before I had to bring you into this world,” her mother whispers, and Hinata doesn't get to ask what she means before the room starts spinning, her mother's chakra surging under her skin like a current.

 _I'm sorry that this burden will be yours to carry_.

\---

Hinata's eyes snap open.

She's surrounded by unfamiliar white walls. There's a monitor beeping nearby.

She's at the hospital.

How much time has passed?

A hand closes around hers and she feels the familiar march of kikaichuu across her fingers.

“...Kiba?” Her mouth is dry, and the question comes out like a croak as she turns her head to look at Shino.

“He lost to Naruto,” Shino says, ever concise. “You've been unconscious for a day and a half. Kiba will still be asleep for another two.”

Hinata lets out a breath she didn't realise she's been holding. Kiba is fine, he didn't have to fight the Suna genin.

“The matches for the Main Tournament have been set for one month's time. Neji will be fighting Naruto,” Shino reports. “Sasuke will be fighting Gaara, the third Suna genin. I have been assigned to fight Kankurou. Shikamaru has to fight Dosu from Otogakure, then Temari.”

Shino helps her sit up as Hinata takes a moment to digest the information, and puts a cup of water into her hands.

If the matches proceed in that order, the chances of Shino battling Neji are diminishingly low. Shino may end up needing to face that Suna genin first, and they've already promised each other they will forfeit in that event.

She gulps down the water. It's a little frustrating, that they likely won't be able to test the information she's learnt from her fight, but they can still work with what they have, to take Shino as far as they can go.

She's about to ask another question when someone knocks on the door.

It's Hayate and Kurenai.

Kurenai sits down on the edge of the bed, putting her hand against Hinata's cheek. “How are you feeling? Better?”

Hinata nods.

“Well done with the Shunshin,” Hayate adds. There’s a faint but unmistakably fond smile on his face. “Yuugao said she would make you come over for dinner after the exams if you managed to learn it before she came back from her mission.”

Colour blooms across Hinata's face at the praise, and she ducks her head, embarrassed, pleased. “I still have more homework to do though.”

Hayate’s smile softens. “The homework never ends.”

He clears his throat as he hands her some papers. “The medical team has approved your hospital discharge at midday, but I... _persuaded_ one of the administrators to change the full discharge to a ‘supervised recuperation’. That means either Kurenai or myself will be responsible for you until you’re properly cleared again. If you like.”

The offer is so casual, as if he had merely made an idle comment on the weather or an inconsequential part of his day. But there’s a lump in her throat, and Hinata doesn’t think she can blame it on dehydration. There’s a storm of emotions deep in her gut, shame and gratefulness and embarrassment and relief all tangled together.

There is a protocol for all Hyuuga, especially unmarked Hyuuga, to return to the compound at least once a day if they haven't been assigned an active mission. It's simultaneously a check-in, a headcount. Mission and hospital logs get checked when someone is absent for more than twenty-four hours. The Hyuuga do not take missions where clan matters cannot take precedence, and there are no Hyuuga in the ANBU for that reason. Missing Hyuuga do not stay missing for long.

There's a saying in their clan about the fate of the very few deserters and runaways - _there are no missing Hyuuga, only dead Hyuuga_.

Hayate’s offer will be, at most, a temporary respite. She can’t avoid going back to the compound for any longer than a month without raising suspicion, even if she was as weak as her clan believed her to be. But there will always be more missions, more reasons to be away - so even if it’s only a month, only a day, she’ll take every scrap of freedom she can get.

Her discharge papers crinkle slightly in her grip. “Thank you.”

Words don't always come easily to her, and even now, her words feel so inadequate, barely scraping the surface of how much she wants to say. “ _Yoroshiku onegaishimasu_.”

\---

Hinata does not sleep that first night at Kurenai’s home. She’s never spent the night away from the compound except on missions.

Rationally, logically, there’s no reason for her not to sleep. On missions, she can sleep on command, because there were no guarantees any of them would get enough of it. Even at the compound, sleep was a convenient escape, a way to pass the time until it was an acceptable hour to get up and leave.

But she’s still awake when the moon casts a milky glow, high in the night sky.

She takes in the quiet streets below from the windows that face the Academy building, with a partial view of the Hokage Rock.

The blanket she’s wrapped herself in smells like _kinmokusei_ , like orange osmanthus.

Kurenai’s kitchenette is bare but for a kettle. The remains of their takeaway dinner sit in the fridge. Kurenai might not really use her kitchenette, but her bathroom and laundry is filled with colourful bottles, different scents. Hinata wonders if Kiba might get a headache in it, and can’t help smiling to herself.

She hugs her knees, leaning her head against the cool surface of the window.

Hinata had once dreamed of becoming an splendid shinobi that was strong, like her father; and kind, like her mother. A childish dream, ripped from her hands by the very people she sought to emulate.

But right now, she almost wants to thank them for it.

Kurenai’s whole apartment could fit into Hinata’s bedroom at the Hyuuga compound, even though she is a Hyuuga reject.

Hinata would fight monsters to stay right here, to be able to fall asleep to the scent of _kinmokusei_ , to the hum of the fridge, to the faint sounds of the street at night.

She watches the moon set and the sun rise from the window of Kurenai’s apartment, the deep indigo of the night slowly giving way to the red-orange glow of dawn, and feels like the most fortunate girl in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language note: It's hard to translate 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu' but it's usually encompasses a lot of meanings, such as 'please take care of me', 'I'm counting on you', 'I'm putting myself in your hands'.
> 
> This chapter I had to drag kicking and screaming into existence because my brain is frolicking three thousand scenes ahead of where this fic is. Also work is energy-sapping and unfortunately I can't pay the bills by writing fanfic so /throws hands in the air/. More canon-divergence to follow.


	21. Ripple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~Chapter, thy name is canon divergence~~
> 
> She hears the clash of metal and keeps running.

The next day, the cry of a particular hawk interrupts their breakfast, and Kurenai hands Hinata a key before disappearing. Hinata is rinsing off their bowls and utensils just as Shino arrives, carrying a fruit basket.

They can tell something’s happened as soon as they approach the hospital. It’s not obvious, but the staff milling about the corridors seem uneasy, on alert. The receptionist gives them wary looks as they sign themselves in on the visitor’s book before escorting them to Kiba’s room.

Shino deliberately walks closer to the walls, using shadows created by corners or fixtures to discreetly release handfuls of kikaichuu as they go past. The kikaichuu scatter further into the shadows in different directions.

When they enter Kiba's room, his sister is already inside.

“Oh! You two are as early as ever.” Hana greets them with a wave before returning to Akamaru's examination.

“How are they?” Hinata asks.

Hana smiles. “Kiba's fine, just sleeping off those Soldier Pills. He'll probably wake up tomorrow through sheer will alone because he hates being still.”

Akamaru yips in agreement, and licks Hana's face. She tickles his belly and Akamaru wriggles in delight. “This little one's just fine too, wants Kiba to be awake so he can tell Kiba off for not trusting his nose and falling for Naruto's Henge.”

She scratches Akamaru behind the ears before packing up her equipment. “I have another patient and I'm on night patrol tonight, so it would be good if you guys could keep an eye on Akamaru - the hospital is a boring place to be when your other half is unconscious.”

Hana's about to step out of the room when she pauses.

“You'll probably find out later from Kurenai but…keep your eyes peeled, lay low. Three ANBU were killed last night in the Upper North Wing. If you see or notice something, report it. The hospital is already preparing for evacuation and lockdown if they get the signal from the Central Office.”

Shino and Hinata nod obediently and exchange glances as the door closes behind Hana.

Hinata activates her Byakugan.

\---

She easily locates the Upper North Wing, skimming past corridors of other patients.

There's only one patient in the entire wing - Uchiha Sasuke.

He's unconscious, hooked up to a ventilator inside a medical pod. She hasn't learned enough fuinjutsu to know exactly what the trail of seals are specifically for, but they extend across the band holding his head in place, and on the bedding he's lying on. Sasuke's chakra is muted, flaring randomly. His medical chart is in code.

There are more ANBU stationed around the room. Kakashi is present as well.

She reads his lips as he tells one of the ANBU to be extra cautious of the Oto-nin as spies had already infiltrated some of Konoha's ranks.

Kakashi then stops speaking, a grim expression on his face as he looks down at Sasuke in the medical pod.

 _The debrief must have already happened much earlier_ , she thinks to herself, retreating when no one else speaks for a while. She skims through the other hospital wings just in case, but there is nothing else out of the ordinary, which is already strange in itself. Something so significant as ANBU being taken out tends to generate gossip and spread rumours like wildfire.

She lets her Byakugan recede.

“What did you find?” Shino asks.

“Not a lot. Whoever killed the ANBU last night seem to be after Sasuke-kun. Kakashi-sensei is guarding him with a new squad of ANBU. He says there are Otogakure spies in Konoha. The other hospital staff have most likely been forbidden to discuss what happened.”

Shino is silent for a moment as he observes the kikaichuu that have returned in inconspicuous trickles. “The kikaichuu cannot find any residual chakra traces of the Oto-nin we know of. That in itself is strange, considering Zaku’s injuries.”

Torn-off limbs tended to require a long hospital stay, even for shinobi. Unless the Oto-nin had brought along their own medics, which was not out of the ordinary for the more paranoid of hidden villages.

The puzzle has too many pieces missing. Why would an attacker capable of killing three ANBU leave empty-handed without Sasuke, or stealing his Sharingan? Why be just sloppy enough to leave enough traces to put the village on alert?

“The only deployable Oto-nin are Dosu, Kin, their supervising jounin, and perhaps accompanying medics. If there are spies for Oto in Konoha, there is a possibility that they will approach the other Oto-nin unless they are ready to break their cover.” Shino glances at the bed where Kiba sleeps on. Akamaru is dozing off on the pillow next to Kiba’s head.

Hinata knows enough of Shino's body language now, to know when Shino is thinking, stalling on asking one of them to do something unpleasant or dangerous.

There's a difference between an official mission and sticking their heads out without authority. But information can tip the scales, may make the difference in preventing a yearmate being killed or maimed for his doujutsu. They aren’t close to Uchiha Sasuke, but he is a Konoha shinobi regardless.

“I should do it,” Hinata says quietly. “I can observe from a greater distance than you can and have the best chance of getting away without engaging.”

Shino’s shoulders tense, and Hinata knows she’s guessed correctly. The kikaichuu are incredibly versatile, but insect-users are not that common in any of the larger hidden villages, a distinct identifier in itself, and could lead back to the Aburame.

“This isn’t a C or D rank mission. This could have international repercussions, since it involves the Oto-nin. And we have no idea who the spies are, and how many there are.” Shino’s normally solemn tone is edged with worry.

Hinata takes his hand and watches some of the kikaichuu crawl onto hers. “I will be very careful.”

“Kiba will be angry when he finds out you didn’t wait for him.” Shino squeezes her hand.

Hinata smiles slightly. “You will probably remind him about the time he ran off after a target without us.”

Shino makes a faint noise behind the collar of his jacket that almost sounds like an exasperated huff. “...He was right.”

Shino had been furious, more to do with the number of injuries Kiba had returned with than the fact that Kiba had been right to act on his gut instinct, and Kiba had been smug for days afterwards.

The day is still young, and Shino and Hinata sit down to plan as they watch over Kiba and Akamaru.

\---

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konoha hosts a significant number of Chuunin Exams. It would be a security and logistical nightmare to house visiting shinobi near the heart of the village and where the majority of residential buildings are. For that reason, there is an area of the village designated to host and monitor visiting shinobi and lower-tier dignitaries, informally known as the Visitor District.

It is located towards the outskirts of the village, with a large number of inns and non-privately-owned buildings, with access to a number of training areas so there is little excuse for foreign shinobi undertaking exams or staying for diplomatic purposes to be venturing too far. It has its own dining and entertainment strips, shops having sprung up around it to cater to the visitor demand.

It is also the best place for Hinata to start if she wants to tail one of the Oto-nin.

She cloaks herself in a partial Henge once again, her eyes a common dark brown, and she changes her clothes to a plain, loose-fitting shift dress over a long sleeved shirt. There’s enough room to move and hide a few items in without being too conspicuous.

She wanders the shopping strip in the late afternoon, carefully extending the Henge to mask the telltale veins of her activated Byakugan. She sticks to busier shops where it’s easier to go unnoticed, borrowing the distraction of people milling around to search the buildings nearby.

It isn’t until just after dark that she finally spots an Oto-nin, halfway through a bite of dango. It’s the genin with the hunched back and bandages over most of his face. Dosu, Shino called him. She did not get to see him fight in the preliminary rounds, but he wears a metal gauntlet with holes in it, presumably a weapon that utilises sound or airwaves like his teammates.

She finishes her tea and sweets slowly, keeping a lock on the Oto-nin.

He seems agitated, from the tight look on his face under the bandages. His other teammate, Kin, and his supervising jounin are nowhere in the vicinity.

She leaves some money for her food, and lets herself disappear into the crowds again as she follows Dosu from a good distance away, carefully pulling back and stopping at market stalls at random intervals to avoid catching his attention. She knows better than to underestimate someone even if they are not a sensor-type.

She soon realises Dosu is tailing someone of his own. She casts a wider focus for a moment, stretches the scouting limits of her Byakugan. Her faint amusement at the absurdity of the situation is swiftly replaced by shock when she figures out Dosu is following Gaara, the Suna genin.

There might be another bloody rain tonight.

She reaches into her pocket for the vial of kikaichuu Shino gave her earlier, but changes her mind at the last second. She only has two altogether, she should at least have more to report if she’s going to utilise them.

She promised Shino she would be extra careful, and she slows, leaves more distance between herself and Dosu. She narrows her Byakugan focus to conserve chakra with the increased distance, keeping to the shadows.

\---

The moon slowly climbs past wisps of clouds on an otherwise clear night as Dosu lurks outside a diplomatic building, waiting, and Hinata is kind of glad Kiba isn’t with her because he loves tracking, loves chasing but hates the relative tedium of spying.

Dosu waits and waits, until he seems to decide it's time and enters the building, making his way up to the roof.

She can start to feel the twinges of fatigue at the back of her eyes from hours of using the Byakugan. She reaches for Kiba's last Soldier Pill in her pocket, keeps it in her hand just in case.

She quietly scales the next building with chakra concentrated to both her hands and feet and then swings up onto the rooftop, hiding behind a water tank.

Dosu looks surprised and annoyed that Gaara is awake. Hinata remembers the four uncomfortably spent nights in the second stage exams learning about the Suna genin's insomnia.

She's a little closer than she really ought to be, even though she's not even on the same rooftop. She forces herself to keep her breathing even, reminds herself she needs to reserve chakra in case she needs to flee.

\---

“This is inconvenient,” Dosu says mildly as he flexes the fingers on his gauntlet arm. “Do you not sleep?”

Sabaku no Gaara stares down at him from where he is perched on the decorative ridge of the topmost gable, the full moon at his back. The tinkle of wind chimes lining the eaves of the gable is stark and loud as the sound ripples in the strong breeze.

“What do you want?” Gaara’s voice is harsh.

“I have a…vested interest in fighting Uchiha Sasuke, and I'm afraid you're in the way of that. If I eliminate you here, they might put me in his block,” Dosu explains calmly. “Nothing personal.”

Gaara has one hand cradling the back of his head as he rocks slightly in place. “Get lost,” he growls, a warning.

Dosu raises his right arm, his long sleeves falling back, his metal gauntlet catching the moonlight. “I've seen your moves, your attacks with the sand. Which do you think is faster, your sand or my sound?”

\---

Hinata has the Soldier Pill halfway to her mouth before she freezes at the sight of the ancient chakra exploding past Gaara's skin, manifesting itself in a eldritch scream.

Dosu has a second to stare in horror before he is swatted, crushed to pieces by a massive sand-formed claw, his blood arcing into the light of the full moon.

She can barely make out the shape of the claw, where the creature begins and the Suna genin ends, the sharp glow of the chakra so powerful it's like glimpsing the heart of an explosion.

He, _they_ , snarl at the full moon. The pitch of their cries is chilling. She thinks she can understand now what Kiba meant.

Her eyelids throb as she watches different chakras battle for dominance inside the body of the Suna genin, her heart pounding in her chest. She won’t have a better chance than now to get out of range.

She dry-swallows the Soldier Pill, eyes watering as the sensitivity of her Byakugan increases with her restored chakra. She gets ready to use her Shunshin when she sees a familiar chakra signature at the edge of her Byakugan field.

 _Hayate-sensei_.

\---

Hayate knows enough about the calibre of the average Suna-nin to know he’s not going to get away unscathed from a fight with a one of their jounin.

They all thought Yakushi Kabuto to be suspicious, but to think that he was a spy for Otogakure, under Orochimaru’s command. And then for an allied village to betray them so easily, to bring their Jinchuuriki into Konoha.

This is war.

Hayate tries to Shunshin to safety, but Baki is just as fast. Kabuto does not follow, and while that’s currently better for Hayate than two against one, he doesn’t like the possibilities that lay beyond that door of _why_.

There’s not enough time to think about it. He is unable to lose his tail as they flicker across more rooftops, and Hayate draws his sword. If he can at least injure Baki enough to make his escape -

\---

Even with the Soldier Pill augmenting her chakra reserves, it's a struggle to keep an even pace with two jounin-level shinobi. She draws both vials of kikaichuu out as she sprints after them, gripping one in each hand, chakra pulsing in her hands around the glass, messages for the kikaichuu to carry to Shino. She rips the seals open with her nails and the kikaichuu fly free to find their master.

She hears the clash of metal and keeps running.

\---

Hayate blocks the kunai aimed to disembowel him from below with his own, his katana locked against Baki’s other kunai. Baki throws his weight forward, forcing Hayate backwards, and Hayate leaps to the side, the light of moon arcing off his sword in a downward slash.

Hayate readies an exploding tag as Baki deflects his sword, and leaps backwards as the explosion goes off, breaking into another Shunshin.

He grits his teeth as he barely dodges kunai thrown at him from behind, Baki’s impressive aim even through the residual smoke a testament to Suna’s skills. He can feel his cheek bleeding from the cut.

\---

Hinata watches the blur and rapid-fire clashes of metal with her Byakugan from the alley below as Hayate and the supervising jounin from Suna exchange strike after blow, neither managing to get a hit.

She’s not a stranger to fear, but this is a different fear. Rationally, logically, she knows she shouldn’t interfere, might even get in the way, or worse, be taken hostage.

But the rational part of her mind can’t stop her from thinking of discharge papers, the quiet pride in Hayate’s eyes at her progress, home-cooked bento he would bring during their training sessions.

Hinata would fight monsters to keep them.

_The homework never ends._

They don’t need to win, they just need to survive.

\---

Hayate releases chakra from his feet, charges forward fast enough to make Baki’s eyes widen at the afterimage as he goes for a lateral slash. “Hiken: Tsukikage!”

He draws blood, but it’s not deep at all, as Baki manages to turn out of the way at the last second.

Hayate sheathes his sword, raising his fingers in front of him in a single-handed seal, and two Kage Bunshin appear in a burst of smoke.

“Konoha-ryu: Mikazuki no Mai!”

\---

Left, right, above. There’s no way to dodge all three at this speed.

Baki takes out the clones in time to catch the blade with his left hand, the sword embedding itself into his shoulder deep enough that the blade sticks. His blood drips onto the roof tiles, flowing faster as Baki’s grip tightens around the blade.

Konoha still raise quality shinobi after all.

“Well executed.” Baki has no reservations about praising the skills of his opponents. “But a physical blade can always be stopped.”

He raises his right hand, molding chakra to form his Wind Blade. “But mine can’t be stopped.”

Gekkou Hayate immediately throws himself backwards, relinquishing his sword, but the edges of spinning Wind Blade span further than the eye can see. Hayate’s blood joins his on the roof as his blade hits home, slashing across the exam proctor’s chest, the force of the rotation throwing his opponent backwards.

Baki accumulates more chakra to deal a finishing blow when he hears the whistle of a kunai, dodges another exploding tag. He barely has time to lever the sword out his shoulder and discard it when a spray of smoke bombs detonate above him, cloaking the rooftop.

He grits his teeth. So there had been more than one rat sneaking about. Gaara’s outburst and the exam proctor had been a bigger distraction than he had anticipated. He hears Gekkou Hayate’s laboured, wet breathing, and decides to do something about the second rat first.

Whoever they are, their movements are slower and clumsier than Hayate’s, which Baki finds all the more galling that he had overlooked them. The poor visibility does not prevent him from taking aim, the airflow around him picking up in all directions with his chakra.

His next Wind Blade cleaves through the murky haze, and he hears the slice of flesh, the thump of a dropping body. The remaining layers of purple smoke slowly dissipate with the erratic wind.

A woman he doesn’t recognise lays prone in the shadow behind one of the roof gables, her dark hair sticky with pooling blood, her pale skin catching the moonlight. He can’t hear her breathing at this distance, and she doesn’t even twitch. She’s not wearing a hitai-ate, and something doesn’t feel right.

The exam proctor’s closer and a more immediate threat. He’ll make sure she’s well and truly dead once he’s dealt with Hayate. He needs to clean up this mess before someone comes to investigate the explosions.

\---

Shino is very still in the dim light of his bedroom, his back against the wall, somewhere between meditation and light sleep, when he senses members of his hive return. Hinata.

They alight onto his outstretched hands, their chakra pulsing on his skin in Kana code.

The first group. _Suna jounin pursuing Hayate_. The second group. _Oto colluding with Suna_.

Shino immediately gets up to find his father.

He hopes Hinata is safe.

\---

Baki collects Hayate’s sword, standing over the tokubetsu jounin. It really is such a pity.

He really hopes the Kazekage is right about this alliance with the Sound.

Hayate chokes on his last breaths, weakly grabbing at the blade as Baki drives Hayate’s own sword through his chest.

The tokujo looks Baki in the eyes with grim satisfaction and disappears into a puff of smoke, a clone.

Baki curses as he spins around - the woman.

He sprints across the roof tiles, and realises grimly that he had completely fallen for it when he reaches to check the body of the unknown kunoichi and his hand passes right through.

A genjutsu.

It’s not even a high-level one, about as subtle as a poorly aligned camouflage up close, but aided by the dim light and Baki’s own underestimation of his opponents, it was enough to divert his attention long enough for Hayate to escape.

He dispels the illusion and the body fades into nothing.

The bloodstains remain.

He exhales, gripping the open wound on his shoulder to ground himself. He knows that he definitely injured the real Hayate with his first blade. The patch of blood at his feet is too far away from where they had fought before to have been left by the tokujo. And he had definitely felt two distinct presences when the smoke bombs had gone off.

There are still two rats.

\---

Hinata feels Hayate’s blood seeping into her back and is acutely aware of how little chakra she has left. She’s bleeding from her side, without the luxury of time to bandage it, but thankfully it’s not deep enough to be leaving a trail behind. She’s more concerned that she can barely hold her Byakugan, her range now dwindled to a mere hundred metres, which is almost nothing to pursuers that can Shunshin.

Hayate is barely conscious from the rapid blood loss, thankfully doesn’t bother wasting his breath trying to convince Hinata to leave him behind. Instead he’s gripping her wrist, leaking some of his remaining chakra to help camouflage them with the Toton Jutsu. Hinata can’t move as quickly as she would like, with Hayate thrown across her shoulders in a fireman’s carry, the only way she could carry him when he is far taller and heavier than she is.

She keeps moving, keeping close to the shadowed edges of buildings and walls as they make their way through the Visitors’ District. A lot of the buildings are still empty, ready for the Main Tournament crowds yet to come.

There’s too much risk trying to seek help from the foreign shinobi who are scattered in various buildings around the district. There’s no guarantee they will find an ally.

They’re still too far from the main part of the village. Even if backup is coming, it’ll take time to get here.

 _Think_. Hinata’ chest throbs with phantom pain. She still can feel the sensation of metal piercing her chest, the memory of wearing her teacher’s face - her first ever Kage Bunshin’s memories. The Suna jounin isn’t stupid, and the headstart she managed to eke out shrinks with every second.

They might only have enough chakra together for one more Shunshin.

They pass through another street and she realises that the line of buildings is becoming more familiar. She knows this path.

It’s the only logical option she has left now. There’s no more time, her Byakugan vision wavering, diffusing the usually clear glow of chakra into smears of light in the landscape.

She tightens her grip on Hayate’s upper arms and legs, and Hayate squeezes her wrist, diverting the chakra from his Toton Jutsu, his breath faint against her elbow.

Baki appears at the edges of her Byakugan. They’ve been spotted.

Searing pain radiates through her entire body as she forms and expels the burst of chakra needed to flicker them away.

The world becomes a blur, and the next time her feet hit the ground, the veins around her eyes have receded entirely. There’s no point maintaining the Byakugan anymore.

She concentrates every last trickle of chakra she still has to her feet, and runs; runs towards the very place she never wanted to return to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing action is hard. This chapter simultaneously refused to let go of my brain but also refused to be written easily.
> 
> Also, if Naruto of all people can learn the Kage Bunshin/Shadow Clone off a scroll in a single night, so can Hinata while she's learning Konoha-ryu kenjutsu from Hayate. She can't do more than one right now, but most respectably skilled shinobi post-timeskip can do at least two or three.


	22. Costs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The greatest lesson he learnt was that maintaining peace was often, almost always, more difficult than razing an enemy into the ground.

Decades of wearing the mantle of Hokage has taught Hiruzen that war is always around the corner, despite the ideals Shodai dreamed of. The greatest lesson he learnt was that maintaining peace was often, almost always, more difficult than razing an enemy into the ground.

Even Shodai, the revered and god-like Senju Hashirama, had had to lose something he loved to keep that precious peace for the next generation. Senju Hashirama’s loss, his grief, had been carved into the landscape.

So when Hiruzen is woken at an ungodly hour by an urgent request for an audience from Aburame Shibi, he stares up at the clock in his office, and wonders if war is already on their heels once more.

\---

As Hayate floats back to consciousness, the face looming over him is familiar.

“You know, there are Hyuuga who have been in here less than you have,” Hyuuga Hiroko says tartly, her hands shrouded in green chakra. “Is this going to be a habit?”

Her hairline is damp with sweat, hints of silver at her temples that weren’t there last time.

Hayate coughs up a mouthful of bloody phlegm. “...Like mother, like daughter, I suppose,” he rasps out. “Hinata-kun-”

“She’s fine.” Hiroko’s tone is curt.

Hayate lets his eyes close in relief, feeling the pull of sleep as his flesh knits back together under Hiroko’s hands.

“When she came in - for a moment, I thought - I thought my daughter was still alive.” He can hear the grief in Hiroko’s voice.

“...Like seeing a ghost, isn’t it.”

Hiroko doesn’t reply.

Or Hayate just doesn’t hear it as he sinks.

\---

Hinata fights the urge to pass out as she waits outside the treatment room for Hayate to be stabilised. She leans against the wall for support. Every breath seems to reverberate loudly in her head.

Natsu, the only other person awake in the Hyuuga medical wing, had tried to move her for treatment, but Hinata had shaken her head at Natsu, too tired to speak.

Hinata grips the blanket Natsu draped around her, tries not to get any of Hayate’s blood on the wall. Every second passes so slowly, and her vision swims with chakra exhaustion even without the Byakugan. She understands a little better now, why Hayate had told her the Kage Bunshin was a restricted technique and never to do too many at once.

She digs her fingers into the wound in her side, using the pain to stay awake, willing herself not to make any noise lest Natsu decide avoiding the Main House’s censure was more important than allowing Hinata’s vigil.

Eventually the lightbox outside the treatment room blinks off. Hinata jerks upright, and immediately pitches forward as the room spins, just as the door slides open.

Hiroko catches Hinata by the shoulders before Hinata can break her nose on the floor. “Foolish child, you’re bleeding out - Natsu! What have I told you about idiot patients pretending not to be injured? It’s not all his blood!” Hiroko barks. “Get over here!”

Hinata grabs blindly at Hiroko’s sleeves, knuckles white. “Please-”

“He’ll be fine,” Hinata hears the older woman say brusquely as she pulls the blanket away from Hinata’s blood-soaked clothes.

Hinata lets out the breath she was holding, and lets the darkness close around her.

\---

Aburame Shibi’s news is simultaneously just as bad as Hiruzen would expect at this time of night (morning), yet not as bad as it could have been, all things considered.

“Where is Hayate now?”

“We can't be certain, but there's a strong possibility they've both gone to the Hyuuga compound,” Shibi replies. “We retraced the flight path of the kikaichuu to the diplomatic lodge but we only found signs of a struggle, no bodies.”

“You’re sure Hyuuga Hinata was at the scene?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Shino says from his father's side. “She sent the messages. The kikaichuu I've sent out to find her confirm she is at the compound. If anyone knows what happened to Hayate-sensei, then it would be her.”

_Oto colluding with Suna_. Hayate had been tailing Yakushi Kabuto, and there were few scenarios that could result in such a message. He remembers the faceless bodies of the Kusagakure genin that were discovered outside the Forest of Death arena, and wonders if Orochimaru had a hand in this too.

Hiruzen thinks of the Fourth Kazekage, still new to the seat when the search for the missing Third Kazekage had come up empty during the last shinobi war. He remembers Rasa being a relentlessly pragmatic shinobi when the peace treaty between Konoha and Suna had been signed.

It wasn’t impossible to see how Suna allying with Oto might improve Suna’s standing. He wasn’t ignorant to the Land of Wind’s Daimyo bringing more business to Konoha. But Konoha had not been in a position to turn away missions at the time, their own resources depleted after the attack from the Kyuubi, only a handful of years after the war.

He had hoped, that Rasa would still prioritise peace, despite the short-sighted decisions of his Daimyo.

Yet another mistake, another hopeless optimism on his part.

But there is not enough concrete evidence to demand the postponement of the Chuunin Exams, or to even to detain any of the candidates for the Chuunin Exams. Not yet. Suna and Oto could easily deny everything and turn around to accuse Konoha of manufacturing an excuse to attack other villages.

Hiruzen heaves a sigh into his hand and feels every bit of his age as he gets up from the couch in his office. He flicks his fingers in a certain way and an ANBU materialises.

“Inform Nara Shikaku that we need to increase security across the village and to assemble a team to monitor our friends from the Sand. Shibi, you should go with him to assist Shikaku. Then I want you to summon Inuzuka Tsume to assist in a search party for Gekkou Hayate. Make it just conspicuous enough. Hopefully our friends will refrain from anything rash if we seem to remain unaware.”

“Yessir.”

Hiruzen puts his hat on and straightens his robes. It has been a few years since he's visited the Hyuuga compound.

He smiles kindly at Shibi’s son, and gestures at him to follow. “You can come with me. You must be worried about your teammate.”

\---

Shino knows that the Hyuuga are a very old, very rich clan, but walking into the Hyuuga compound for the first time makes his eyes widen just a little behind his glasses. He keeps stride with Sandaime, and he feels the questioning gaze of the night guards as they pass.

All the structures are top artisan-grade, and look painstakingly well-maintained.

In contrast to the slow, creeping modernisation in other buildings across Konoha, all the Hyuuga structures within the gates are strictly traditional architecture, right down to the all-wood joints. The kind made from cured cypress and pine, the kind that could last for centuries. White pebbles and sand surround the large flat stepping stones as they come off the dirt path from the gates, contrasting with the rich dark stain of the wooden pillars and beams.

They met by a young Hyuuga woman in a black kimono and a pale band across her forehead, who leads them deeper into the compound, a winding path past miniature gardens and successively larger rooms connected by raised walkways.

The Hyuuga compound is elegant, tasteful. It strikes him that Hinata could have become mistress of all this in time, this grand fortress steeped in history and wealth and power.

He thinks of Hinata coughing up blood at the hands of her own kin, unconscious for almost two days, and not a single person from her clan coming to visit. Remembers her carefully tucking her discharge papers into her jacket and leaving the hospital with Kurenai with a look of wonder on her face.

Hinata has never spoken about her clan. But Shino remembers the day a man with a scar on his chin came to recruit him for an organisation called Root. He remembers his adoptive brother volunteering himself in Shino’s place and remembers how reluctant his father had been to let go of either of his sons, blood or otherwise. His father was a shinobi to the core, but even his father had hesitated then, had questioned the man with the scar on his chin of the legitimacy of his authority. If Torune had been unwilling, Shino thinks his father would have defied the man from Root.

The woman leading them pauses outside a door, stepping aside and gestures for them to enter, her eyes lowered respectfully for the Sandaime. “Hiashi-sama awaits.”

Shino remains outside, not privy to the discussions between a Hokage and a Clan Head. He watches the first rays of dawn creep through the decorative slats of a privacy wall, casting long shadows that slant across the opposite wall like bars on a cage.

He hasn’t seen Torune since. But when Torune had left them, he had left knowing Aburame Shibi loved him, that Shino loved him. Shino might miss his adoptive brother, but they were in each other’s hearts.

He thinks of Hinata growing up in this place with no one to miss her when she wasn’t there, and the thought aches, hot and sharp in his chest.

\---

Hiashi looks remarkably composed despite being woken before dawn for an unannounced visitor. Hiashi is just shy of thirty, if Hiruzen remembers correctly, despite the deep lines on his brow.

He still remembers when Hiashi and Hizashi were still tiny infants. Remembers attending a Hyuuga clan ceremony as a newly inaugurated Hokage and being surprised at the emotionless mask Hiashi had already begun to perfect at the age of three, Hizashi kneeling behind his twin with bandages already wrapped around his forehead.

The Hyuuga grow up quickly, whether they like it or not.

“I apologise for such an early visit, but I have a need to speak with your eldest,” Hiruzen cuts to the chase.

Hiashi’s face does not even twitch. “Does this have something to do with the tokujo she dragged in last night?”

Well, that answers one question. “Is he alive?”

“I'm told he has been stabilised,” Hiashi folds his hands into his kimono sleeves. “He will be stable enough to be transferred to the hospital soon enough.”

“And your daughter?”

“She will be reprimanded for getting in the way of a mission.” Hiashi says stiffly. “We are fortunate that she was not captured.”

_Again_ , goes unspoken.

Hiashi has said enough for Hiruzen to know that Hinata had not informed her clan exactly what they had been running from.

He’s not entirely unaware of the succession change the Hyuuga are planning. It’s his job to pacify the many clans that form a significant part of Konoha’s military force, and he has to keep an eye on clan politics. Hiashi and the Hyuuga elders are likely waiting for Hanabi to turn ten before setting things in stone.

The Hyuuga’s alliance with Konoha has always centered around the preservation of the Byakugan, with a promise to lend their collective strength to Konoha in times of great need, in exchange for the freedom to manage their own clan matters without interference, even from the Council, or the Police Force.

They are obligated to take into account his say, as the current Hokage and leader of the village, but in practice, the Hokage gets very little say in what the Hyuuga decided to do with their own unless he can prove it will somehow negatively affect the rest of the village as result.

Hyuuga cannot be ANBU, and Hyuuga cannot be Hokage - the price for the compromise between their autonomy and the power balance of the village. Some clans might balk at such limitations but some would argue that the agreement had served the Hyuuga well, considering what happened to the Uchiha, who had once rivalled the Hyuuga in prosperity for a very long time.

The truth of the downfall of the Uchiha is another regret he carries, always.

Hiruzen thinks of all the things he has not managed to accomplish, to change; remembers the people he’s failed along the way. He has lived long enough to experience the unique bitterness and grief of outliving his own successor. Minato had died so young. Even Kushina. He’s put off choosing another successor for so long because he realises that there’s no one in the village that’s right for the mantle. Not yet.

He thinks of his grandson, Konohamaru, always disappointed when Hiruzen is too busy to come and see him. The boy barely knows his parents, both of them ANBU and often away from home. His other son, Asuma, is still distant despite their tentative reconciliation when he returned from his service with the Land of Fire’s Daimyo as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

But of all the people he has failed, Hiruzen knows he’s failed Minato the most. Sees it every time he looks out of the windows in his office to find Naruto alone on the playground. Hears it every time Naruto causes a ruckus with pranks and paint splashed across the Hokage Rock. Hears it every time Naruto declares his dream of becoming Hokage and being acknowledged by the village. He wonders if Uzumaki Naruto will one day wear the same mantle and realise the sacrifices that come with it.

He knows he is old, and he doesn’t try to delude himself into thinking he has that many years left, impending war or not. The future is in the young, and young Hinata has done Konoha a service this day, whether deliberately or by accident.

She still has a chance to nurture her Will of Fire, before she can be swallowed completely by her clan’s protocols.

“Hiashi, I believe you are mistaken as to your daughter’s role in my visit today.”

\---

Hinata slowly blinks awake to the beep of a monitor for the second time in three days, but this is definitely not the hospital. And she’s not alone.

She sits up, noting the absence of pain in her side, and takes a breath to collect herself. “Neji-niisan,” she greets her cousin evenly, politely.

He watches her from his own cot with an unreadable expression on his face, his hitai-ate resting on his bedside table. The Juin is stark against his bare forehead, The pallor of his face tells her she was right about the elders finding his actions punishable, even if they were against her. Being right about this still gives her no satisfaction. Perhaps, if she didn’t have her teammates, didn’t have Kurenai and Hayate, she would have welcomed his fatal blow, even.

Right now, though, she only feels the familiar unease of being back inside the compound, like the sputtering of a candle flame.

He doesn’t reply to her greeting, and that’s just fine with her as she swings her legs to one side of the mattress, tucking her feet into the medical wing slippers. The vitals monitor is still attached to her arm, so she pulls it along with her as she makes her way to the door.

“You should have just surrendered the match.”

\---

Her hand stills as she reaches for the handle. He can see the back of her neck, exposed by the collarless patient gown and the absence of her hitai-ate. She inhales.

“Was it worth it?” Hinata counters, still not looking at him. They both know what she’s talking about.

Neji wonders how he would have felt if his blow had been true, if no one had stopped him in time. If he would have been satisfied watching the light leave her eyes.

_Yes._

_No._

“...I failed, didn’t I?” He tells himself that he doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction of a straight answer.

There’s a soft gust of breath from her direction that sounds like a laugh. “I guess you’ll have to try harder to kill me next time,” Hinata says wryly. “Maybe you’ll know the answer then.”

She opens the door and walks away, and Neji hates her a little more for seeing through him, even when she wasn’t looking his way at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be playing around with the ages of the previous generations when needed because it is not realistic for people who raise child soldiers to only have children when they're like 25. In my head, Hiashi was probably 17 or 18 when Hinata was born.
> 
> Also when I think about the politics of the Naruto!verse, it makes me think that Naruto would make a terrible Hokage if all his friends just didn't tell him to take a damn seat once in a while. I mean, it's very convenient that the truly irredeemable villains in Naruto get killed by people that aren't Naruto, isn't it? Sometimes Naruto's inspirational-speech-no-jutsu is not enough, but he gets protag immunity to logic, so. And it would probably be kind of a downer ending if it was too realistic I guess.
> 
> I also tried to delve into Hiruzen's head a little, because Kishi starts off making him an affable old man, then he presents as a bit more disquieting/edged in the Chuunin exams, and then he gets presented as an uber-tolerant dude who tried not to execute people who really deserved it because he hoped they would turn around (possibly similar to how Naruto might govern). They're shinobi though? And also this is the same village that basically pushed Kakashi's dad to turn to suicide for saving his comrades and failing the mission.
> 
> ~~Humans are always the source of their own problems, not alien-tree people, thank you for coming to my Ted talk~~


	23. Cherry Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wonders what snowfall sounds like.

It does not ever really snow, in the Land of Fire.

But right here, watching the Amagiyoshino sakura fall around them, Hideko thinks snow might look like this.

Unmarked Hyuuga cannot leave the Land of Fire without being accompanied by a Branch member, and Hideko has never seen snow.

White cherry blossoms blanket the trees of the inner gardens, carpet the ground, swirling with the breeze.

Against the dark frames of the Hyuuga buildings, it almost takes her breath away.

Hizashi smiles at her wonder, laughs as she spins in a familiar movement, scattering the fall of the petals into a perfect arc. She blushes when she realises what a spectacle she’s making of herself, and her heart beats a little faster at the affection on Hizashi’s face.

She knows he does not love her the way she does him, his fondness only brotherly, but it’s something warm and something precious nonetheless.

She hopes he is matched with a bride who truly appreciates him, and hopes she can watch over him as another Branch member in time.

Maybe someday, she can see the snow for herself too, visit the countries she’s only read about in books and heard from other shinobi.

Maybe someday, their children can grow up to become best friends as well.

She tilts her head upwards and closes her eyes, feeling the soft brush of petals against her face. The breeze gusts gently past her ears, and she wonders what snowfall sounds like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters in Amagiyoshino 天城吉野 (which is a real type of sakura) can be interpreted as heavenly city, lucky field (or wild, open space). I like to think of it as Heavenly City, Fields of Fortune but you can come up with any poetic variation of your choice and pop me a comment XD ** I am not a fluent Japanese or Chinese speaker, so this might all translate into a word salad IRL, but individually that's what those characters mean.
> 
> I have a theme song for Hideko and her one-sided love for Hizashi (which basically inspired this whole chapter) and some of you might recognise it from a Chinese drama called The Story of Yanxi Palace. The song title is basically The Sound of Falling Snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pZsyPnFYE


	24. Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata has never packed so quickly in her life.

Hinata is fully prepared to get told off for wandering out of bed when she is discovered in the corridors, albeit in a diplomatic way, since Branch Family members never seemed to know what to do with her, defaulting to treating her with either aloof politeness or frosty deference.

“Hinata-sama!”

She is not, however, prepared for Natsu cutting her off at the corner, glancing with an opaque expression at the numbers on her monitor, before steering her into an empty room, a bundle of clothes in her arms.

“You have been summoned by Hiashi-sama and Sandaime-sama,” Natsu says, she briskly and efficiently disconnects Hinata from the monitor. “Your clothes from last night were unsalvageable.”

She lays out an entire ensemble of standard clan attire onto the nearest flat surface, everything meticulously pressed. Natsu holds the juban ready, prepared to help Hinata dress.

Hinata wonders how much this deference is based on the ranks of those who had summoned her, because while Main Family members did have attendants, they certainly had never bothered to keep that custom with her for years now. Maybe it was simply because, whatever their differences, both houses of the Hyuuga preferred to keep up certain appearances to the rest of the village.

“Thank you, but I can dress myself,” Hinata says quietly, firmly, as she loosens the knot on the ties of her patient gown. “I will not be long.”

Natsu dips her head in a short bow and lays the juban down on the bed, before leaving the room with monitor in tow.

Hinata has been heir to the clan for most of her life, has been bred and raised for it. She remembers the first time she wore the formal clan attire, her mother explaining how to wear it, what it stood for, the tradition of it, from the two layers to the embroidery chosen to form their clan symbol.

_The juban must sit right, or the kimono will not. The foundation is important._

She wraps the white juban around her, securing the ties snugly with neat square knots, smoothes out any creases and wrinkles, deftly making tucks for excess fabric where her waist dips inwards.

 _Always make sure you centre your kimono, so our_ mon _, the crest of the Hyuuga, rests firmly between your shoulders._

There’s no crest on her kimono today, but she still slides her hands into the sleeves at the same time, tugging on both ends to center the kimono. She wraps the left side over the right, securing the second layer of ties. She makes the necessary tucks and folds before picking up the obi.

_Women of Hyuuga wear the obi with the kata-nagashi bow when they are unmarked. If they are marked, they wear the kichiya bow._

She winds the obi around her twice, secures it with another square knot, before forming the asymmetrical loops of the kata-nagashi. When she finishes tying the bow, she pinches the top of the kata-nagashi with one hand, grasps the edges of the layered obi at her back, and turns the obi clockwise until the kata-nagashi is centred behind her, the dangling ends of the bow swaying slightly with her movements, the eye of the knot resting against her spine.

She finger-combs her hair briefly to tidy the slightly-flattened ends from sleep, but otherwise, she is ready.

Natsu is waiting outside the door when Hinata opens it again, and takes the folded patient gown from Hinata with another dip of her head. “Hiashi-sama and Sandaime-sama are at the Main Hall.”

\---

Asuma watches Chouji scarf down a sixth serving of premium kalbi, pulling out his wallet as the grill sizzles under the next layer of cooking meat. It shouldn’t be possible for him to feel physical pain at the state of his wallet, but it shouldn’t be possible for twelve-year-old to eat this much either.

He kind of wants to take Shikamaru by the shoulders and impress upon him the very serious importance of him making Chuunin.

He also knows that Shikamaru would probably sabotage that on purpose if he knew about the betting stub in Asuma’s pocket, so he swallows the urge and prays for fortune to smile on his student in the Main Tournament.

Chouji orders another ten servings of premium kalbi and Asuma feels like his soul might escape his body at the thought of the mounting tab in his future.

There has to be cheaper ways to bribe his team into being more motivated.

An exasperated groan comes from the window of the restaurant and the three of them look up to see Ino walking past with Sakura, the two of them holding flowers wrapped in cellophane.

\---

Hinata’s eyes widen as she spots Shino crouched over the roots of a decorative pine outside the building they use for clan-wide meetings and for receiving important guests. “Shino-kun.”

Shino gets up, his footsteps light and barely disturbing the pebbles around the tree as he returns to the path, the cuff of his sleeve brushing against hers for a moment. “Are you alright?” he asks lowly, and she can hear the concern in his voice.

They’re being watched, listened to, so she doesn’t take his hand like she always does, and takes half a step back. “Yes,” she says softly. “Thanks to you.”

She can feel his gaze shift behind his dark glasses, taking notice of her clan kimono. The tips of her ears grow hot against her will, even though there's no logical reason why she would feel embarrassed of all things. Maybe it’s because Shino is right here, standing in the place she grew up, and she feels a little exposed.

It’s not forbidden for a Hyuuga to bring outsiders to the compound, but the process of getting the approval from the elders or the clan head is more trouble than it is worth. Only the guards are permitted to use their Byakugan on shift, and it’s an unspoken rule that one should not use it within the compound itself unless in the dojo.

But the sensation of someone watching lingers regardless, and it’s already disquieting enough for the people who live in it, much less for people who did not grow up in a clan of people who can see through walls if they choose.

Maybe this is why they don’t invite other villagers here, because it reinforces how different the Hyuuga are to everyone else, how odd they are with their unrelentingly traditional rituals and practices while the world changes slowly around them.

It’s different, when she’s outside, with her team, and she’s just another shinobi with a special ability.

This is the first time Hinata consciously feels like she _is_ a Hyuuga, even more than when she uses the Byakugan. It’s like a kick in the teeth to be reminded that to the rest of the world, she is one of them, even though the Hyuuga had shut her out in almost all the ways that mattered.

She doesn’t want Shino and Kiba to feel uncomfortable around her Byakugan, doesn’t want them to look at her and see the shroud of the Hyuuga clan in her place.

A sharp sting in her ankle pulls her out of her thoughts, and Hinata blinks up at Shino. He brings up his hand to push his glasses up his nose, and she sees the large black ant crawling across his little finger, soon disappearing behind the curve of his knuckle.

She doesn’t need to look down to know that whatever bit her is now gone. The skin of her left wrist prickles with the gentle march of the kikaichuu, reassuring and familiar, even though she’s seen them eat people from the inside out, destroying their chakra network the way they were bred to.

“Thank you,” she says once more, just as Asami, the Branch member stationed outside the entryway to the Main Hall, clears her throat pointedly.

Shino nods at her in understanding, and she steels herself before heading inside.

\---

Kiba wakes up to Akamaru’s tongue bathing his face, which is par for the course.

Naruto sitting cross-legged in the visitor’s chair instead of his teammates or his sister is _not_ par for the course. There’s a fruit basket on the bedside table, which Kiba doubts was Naruto’s doing, because Naruto was definitely not a fruit basket person.

“What are you doing here?” Kiba says, or at least he tries to. What actually comes out of his mouth is a string of jumbled syllables because his body feels like it’s been glued to the bed and his mouth is dry as fuck.

“I was trying to visit Sasuke but they said he’s not allowed visitors yet,” Naruto replies anyway, making a disgruntled huff through his nose.

Kiba makes a valiant effort to unpeel himself from the bed, and suffers the indignity of Naruto helping him sit upright. Akamaru yips as he climbs into Kiba’s lap.

Naruto shoves a cup of water at him, his over-enthusiasm making the water slosh over the sides. Kiba takes it anyway and gulps it down, coughing as he clears his throat.

“Have you seen Shino and Hinata?” Kiba manages to make the right sounds this time, only sounding slightly slurred.

Naruto shrugs. “It’s still early, they could be coming later.”

Kiba grunts in response, taking a concentrated whiff of the hospital air. He isn’t quite sure how long he’s been out, but he can smell the lingering traces of Shino and Hinata’s scents, likely from the day before. His sister has also been by, her scent a little fresher, and the knowledge is comforting.

“Aren’t you supposed to be training?” Kiba sinks back against the propped pillow behind him, squinting at Naruto. “They can’t have already had the Main rounds already?”

“That’s next month,” Naruto tells him. “I _want_ to be training, but I can’t find Kakashi-sensei anywhere! Sasuke had better not keep Kakashi-sensei all to himself for the month!”

 _Weird_ , Kiba thinks to himself. He wonders if Kurenai has already started drilling Shino for the Main Tournament yet.

The door opens as if on cue, and Kurenai walks in, looking tired and slightly irritated, before blinking at Naruto in surprise. “Well this is unexpected.”

“Kurenai-sensei!”

“Kiba, Naruto,” she greets them, before perching on the edge of Kiba’s bed, enveloped in a flowery scent as usual. “How are you feeling, Kiba?”

“Like Chouji ran over me several times,” Kiba grumbles, giving Naruto a narrow-eyed glare when Naruto makes a smug face at him.

Kurenai ruffles his hair, and Kiba opens his mouth to ask how the training is going with Shino, when Naruto cuts in.

“Ne, ne, Kurenai-sensei - do you know where Kakashi-sensei is? I haven’t seen him since the preliminaries, and he’s supposed to supervise my training.”

Kurenai’s smile grows stiff at the edges, and she looks at Naruto with an expression that Kiba recognises as her _if I say something it might cause bigger problems_ face.

“Unfortunately, he’s on a special mission, so he won’t be able to supervise your training at the moment.” Kurenai says in a sympathetic voice. “Hopefully he’ll be able to wrap it up soon, but it’s an important mission for the Hokage.”

Akamaru whines at Kiba pointedly, punctuating it with a short, low bark, filling him in on something his sister had mentioned yetserday. Kiba winces, just thinking about how much of a scene Naruto would make if he knew that someone had tried to kidnap his teammate. And the ensuing chaos.

“Oi, are you okay, Kiba? I don’t think I hit you that hard,” Naruto looks over at Kiba with concern.

Kiba chucks his empty paper cup at Naruto’s face, the cup bouncing off Naruto’s nose with a mildly satisfying thwock. “Okay, this is because of the _Soldier Pills_ , stop giving yourself so much credit.”

\---

Hinata wonders if she’s hallucinating, because this isn’t a genjutsu - she would know.

“...E-excuse me?”

“Sandaime has requested that you be stationed closer to the Hokage Office until this business with Otogakure and Sunagakure is settled,” Hiashi repeats sternly, his voice exuding disapproval at her lack of composure. “Particularly while Gekkou Hayate is still unconscious.”

Hinata bites the inside of her cheek to the point of drawing blood, the sharp, smarting pain telling her that this was definitely not a hallucination. “I see.”

“I have recommended that you be accompanied by one of the Branch,” her father continues, “however, Sandaime has expressed some concern about that thanks to Neji’s unfortunate decision during the preliminary matches, despite my insistence to send a different Branch member.”

They both know that Hinata would have known how to activate the Juin, could have had Neji incapacitated before he ever lay a hand on her. Hinata hears the rebuke in her father’s voice, but in this she has never wavered, not even when she truly desired his acknowledgement.

“Hiashi, I know very well the importance of keeping the Byakugan safe,” the Third Hokage says in an indulgent tone. “However, there’s no need to reassign one of your Branch members for this. You have my word as Hokage, and I will assign one of my personal ANBU to her protection. Will that suffice?”

“I hope your word means still means something, Sandaime.” Hiashi’s words are clipped, almost accusing. “We have already swallowed our pride before, for the sake of Konoha’s treaty with Kumogakure.”

The Hokage does not rise to the bait, instead absently adjusting his hat. “As long as I draw breath, I promise you that she will be safe. This is more important, Hiashi, especially if it is the scenario we wish to avoid the most.”

Her father continues to look displeased, but eventually yields. “Very well. She will be your responsibility outside these walls.”

“Wonderful.” Sandaime smiles as he gets up to his feet. He turns to Hinata. “This may be a prolonged situation, so you should return to your quarters to pack anything important you might need. Take young Shino with you if you like. Meet me outside the medical wing within ten minutes.”

\---

Hiroko is sorting through Hayate’s effects, bagging and tagging everything so nothing gets left behind in the patient transfer, when she sees the little medicine pot that tumbles out of his bloodied gear. It’s empty, from the weight of it, and the label is faded and worn, lifting slightly at the corners, the edges yellowed with age, like they’ve been pressed on over and over again.

She knows this medicine pot, because she was the one that filled it once, and had taught her daughter how to do the same.

She still remembers the day she got the news from an ashen-faced Branch member.

They said Hinata had been first to find Hideko’s body, dangling from the rafters. Hideko’s eyes had still been open, pink and bloodshot. Hiroko remembers crying out at sight of the purple bruises on her daughter’s neck, of being held back by her husband’s sister, unable to go to her daughter’s body.

Later, after she was dragged away to compose herself, they tell her that there was no evidence of a struggle. Hideko had no other injuries. Everything pointed to suicide, the final snap of a woman who had slowly been losing her grip on reality.

The elders had refused her request to perform the autopsy herself.

Later, she had gone over her subordinate’s report so many times she could recite every word of it.

“Is this really what you wanted? Hideko,” she whispers to herself.

She releases her white-knuckled grip around the medicine pot and drops it back into the bag, takes a deep shaking breath, and gets back to work.

\---

Hinata has never packed so quickly in her life.

Some of her things are already at Kurenai’s place, so she doesn’t need to pack many clothes. Instead she packs books that she inherited from her mother, including the flower pressing book. Some of her mother’s books were to hard to find editions, and if she will be away for while, she’d rather keep them close. Maybe Kurenai would be willing to help her store them in the future when they resumed mission work.

She sheds the clan kimono, barely managing to drape everything onto the airing stand before changing into standard shinobi navy pants and long-sleeved shirt, grabbing her spare sandals to put on later.

She’s tempted to Shunshin back to the medical wing, despite her still-low chakra, but she doesn’t want to do anything to sabotage her father’s already reluctant approval for her to go with the Hokage. She walks as quickly as she can possibly manage without flying into a full sprint.

Her face is pink when she makes it back to the steps of the medical wing, and her flush only deepens at the amused crinkle around Sandaime’s eyes.

Two Branch members bear a stretcher a short distance away, where Hayate continues to sleep.

“First order of business then,” Sandaime says, forming a seal.

A beat of silence, and then four shinobi teleport into the garden, three of them wearing standard chuunin and jounin attire, one of them wearing the porcelain mask of an ANBU. Hinata carefully does not react to the very familiar fall of purple hair down the ANBU shinobi’s back.

“Yes, Hokage-sama?”

“I would like the three of you to transport young Hinata and Hayate to the Hokage residence,” Sandaime addresses the unmasked three. Hinata realises one of them looks familiar, with a scar across his cheek and nose, and realises she’s seen his face, albeit much younger, in a photo resting on Kurenai’s shelf.

The Hokage turns to the lone ANBU. “Gazeru, if you don’t mind carrying Hayate? The stretcher will not fit, unfortunately, and the two of them cannot be seen leaving the Hyuuga compound.”

“Yessir.” The ANBU rises to her feet, and easily, carefully, lifts Hayate from the stretcher, one arm curved around his back, and her arm hooked under his knees. She carries him towards Hinata, and stands silently behind her just as the other three shinobi link their hands around them in a triangle formation.

The Hokage cheerfully waves at them. “Young Shino and I will have to walk back the old-fashioned way, in case any of our friends were watching as we came in. You know what to do.”

The three shinobi push their first two fingers and thumb against each other's, forming the Tairitsu no In, the Seal of Confrontation at every point where their hands are linked.

Hinata feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as chakra radiates outwards from the formation.

The earth shifts, she blinks, and they are no longer in the Hyuuga compound.

A true teleportation.

\---

On the outskirts of the village, a tall man with spiky white hair and a red haori materialises for a moment as he stares up at the green and red gates of his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys didn't already recognise it, yes, that is the Hiraijin no Jutsu/Flying Thunder God Formation Technique being performed by the Hokage Guard Platoon.
> 
> Also the Narutopedia says Gazeru and Yuugao are two different people, but Gazeru never gets given a proper identity and has the same hair as Yuugao, so Yuugao is Gazeru the same way Yamato is a codename. And canonically in the anime, Yuugao is part of the ANBU team protecting the Hokage.
> 
> Another difficult chapter to write because again, brain is frolicking all the way ahead.
> 
> Alternative chapter summary: Hiruzen has plans and interferes.


	25. Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions catch up to Hinata, and Hayate wakes up at last.

“Someone needs to tell Hayate that his damsel-in-distress schtick is getting old,” drawls the shinobi with the senbon sticking out of his mouth, the three of them breaking the formation. “He should at least be awake for the prince.”

There’s a flicker of movement, and Hinata watches the ANBU sink a knee into his stomach, still holding Hayate steady in her arms.

“See, Genma, _this_ is why you can’t get a date,” chides the other shinobi with a goatee.

“His genin teammates were Maito Gai and Ebisu, we’re lucky he didn’t turn out even worse,” the one with the scar across his nose and cheek sighs dramatically, and the one with the goatee makes a sympathetic face.

“The point is,” the ANBU interjects with deliberate gravity in her voice, “how dare you imply that I am not the princess.”

“If you’re a princess, I’m gayer than Kakashi,” Genma retorts, rubbing at his abdomen.

“...Aren’t you?” The one with the scar sidesteps Genma’s senbon as it sails across the room.

Hinata blinks slowly at their banter, and the shinobi with the goatee smiles kindly at her.

“It’s a running joke,” he reassures, and Hinata turns a little pink when all of them look at her at the same time.

“I’m Namiashi Raido,” says the shinobi with the scar. “I was also on your sensei’s genin team.” No wonder he had looked familiar, the photo on Kurenai’s shelf must have been of her team in the past.

“I’m Shiranui Genma. Not gay, despite what these guys tell you.”

“I don’t know, the guy draped all over Aoba last week sure looked like you,” the shinobi with the goatee says with a pointed look before turning back to Hinata. “I’m Tatami Iwashi.”

“We were _drinking_ , and nothing happened below the belt,” Genma protests, and Raido looks at Genma with pity.

Even Gazeru looks at Genma with pity, and her mask doesn’t have expressions.

Hinata lets out a giggle despite herself, and is immediately mortified.

“You are all the worst friends,” Genma grumbles around another senbon, but there’s a smile hiding in the quirk of his lip, and Hinata lets herself relax.

\---

They settle Hayate into a medical room set up in the Hokage’s Residence, and Hinata watches Genma close his hand around Gazeru’s shoulder with a single reassuring squeeze before the three men leave to return to their original posts. Hinata thinks of the time Kiba baited Shino into a heated discussion about the merits (idiocy) of eating only beef jerky for two weeks when Shino wouldn’t stop fussing about the kunai wound Kiba had brought home with him. It had taken Shino a solid ten minutes before his brain caught up to Kiba winding him up on purpose.

Gazeru lifts her hand to her mask, and removes it, revealing a familiar face.

Hinata had already guessed, but it was still good to know that she hadn’t been projecting onto the wrong person. “Yuugao-san.”

“I suppose it wasn’t a hard one,” Yuugao says with a wry smile at Hinata’s lack of surprise. “Hayate keeps telling me I should dye my hair to blend in more.”

Hinata feels an irrational twinge of guilt that she hadn’t really spared a thought for how worried Yuugao would have been when Hayate suddenly went missing, even though there was no realistic way Hinata could have gotten the news to Yuugao to begin with.

“Stop overthinking it,” Yuugao nudges Hinata with an affectionate tap. “It was very sentimental of Sandaime-sama to re-assign me to the two of you today.”

Hinata thinks about the handful of times she had had minor training injuries healed by Yuugao, on the rare occasions Yuugao had been off-duty and Hayate had invited her over to have dinner with them. She remembers seeing a lot of medical ninjutsu books on their shelves, not thinking much of it at the time. Hinata wants to say a lot, wondering if Sandaime really had done all of this out of pure sentiment, but instead she asks, “when do you think Hayate-sensei will wake up?”

Yuugao looks at Hayate, the dark circles under his eyes much darker than usual against his already pale skin, a monitor beeping quietly next to the bed. “Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning. His vitals are getting stronger, so he’s recovering well.”

Hinata wonders what would have happened if she wasn’t there, if someone else had found Hayate, heavens forbid, if Yuugao had found Hayate, bleeding out from the slashes left by Baki. Hinata vaguely registers the lack of feeling in her fingertips as she imagines being told Hayate had been found dead at the Kikyou Manor, killed in the line of duty. She hunches over, digging her fingers into the bag holding his belongings.

She’s killed people with her bare hands before, and she doesn’t understand why her hands feel cold and her breathing sounds so loud. She was fine this morning, so why does she feel like the ground under her feet is the consistency of syrup -

\---

Yuugao drapes her heavy ANBU cloak around Hinata, pulling the hood over her head, and pushes the girl into a chair before she can drop like a sack of stones. Yuugao removes her gloves and covers Hinata’s eyes from behind with her fingers, forcing them closed, applying gentle pressure with her warm fingertips, her palms pressing the hood tight against Hinata’s ears.

Hinata has always been a quiet child the few times Yuugao had met her, like she lived and breathed the phrase that ‘ _children should be seen and not heard_ ’, but with the addition of ‘ _out of sight, out of mind_ ’.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that Hinata, with her pale, opaque Hyuuga eyes and solemn face, is still barely more than a child.

They are shinobi, and they are always a little damaged, some more than others.

Yuugao remembers her first kills and first brushes with death, the loss of loved ones, all carved deeply into her soul, and even now, every mission could be her last.

As ANBU she has become someone that brings death, brings the loss of loved ones, carves wounds that might never heal into someone else’s soul. After a while, screams often become background noise to people in her line of work, the release of emotion from those who clung to life, clung to things precious to them.

It's the silent ones, the hollowed out ones, that haunt her the most.

Even in the throes of remembered or imagined fear, Hinata is quiet, barely making a sound, even as she trembles behind Yuugao’s hands.

“He is alive, and you are alive,” Yuugao says, low and gentle. “That’s good enough.”

\---

Hinata eventually drifts into an exhausted sleep, helped along by a thread of Yuugao’s chakra, and Yuugao sets up another cot to lay her down in.

The Sandaime, with uncannily good timing as usual, appears in the doorway just as Yuugao puts her mask back on.

“Everything under control?” he asks, has his smoking pipe in hand, and Gazeru idly wonders if smoking was a Sarutobi hereditary trait, since both of his sons seem to have developed the same vice.

“Yessir.”

She wonders why Sandaime has not called off the search party for Hayate, why he has not briefed her on her mission parameters beyond telling her to stick to Hayate and Hyuuga Hinata. Why she was even assigned to them considering it would be more logical to place someone not emotionally involved with either of them.

“Something on your mind, Gazeru?” The Hokage asks knowingly, and she considers her response.

Perhaps this isn’t all just a sentimental whim of a shinobi entering his twilight years.

“Just wanted to inform you that I believe Hayate will likely regain consciousness within twelve to twenty-four hours,” she says without particular inflection.

The Sandaime acknowledges what she says with a pleased nod, taking another puff from his kiseru. “The Hyuuga medics continue to be impressive in their work. I imagine you’ve already read their handover report about the condition he was in?”

Years of practice keeps her voice steady, impartial. “Yes. He was very fortunate to have been aided to safety in time.”

“From what I gather, young Hinata only has a very general idea of what exactly transpired between Hayate and his pursuers before he was incapacitated. Hopefully, Hayate can fill in the details for us.”

“Did she know his pursuers?”

“Her exact words were: _Suna jounin pursuing Hayate. Oto colluding with Suna._ ”

There are very few Suna jounin currently in Konoha, and the first person that comes to mind is Baki, one of the Kazekage’s most trusted subordinates.

Suna and Oto. The implications are unsettling, and Gazeru is old enough to remember the last shinobi war. There was already an undercurrent of disquiet from the incident involving Uchiha Sasuke and Yakushi Kabuto, not to mention the appearance of Orochimaru in Konoha, but there was still not enough evidence on all fronts to link them in any particular way.

The pieces are starting to form a picture, but Gazeru is not arrogant enough to think that Sandaime has not already done the same.

“Then why extract Hyuuga Hinata?” She finds herself asking. “The Hyuuga compound is a fortress unto itself. Even if you need the Byakugan, surely there are other Hyuuga shinobi you could summon.”

The Sandaime exhales slowly, a curl of smoke rising lazily to the ceiling.

“You’re all so young,” Sarutobi Hiruzen says cryptically, the embers of the kiseru glowing as he inhales. “Let’s just say it’s because she has the longest leash.”

\---

When Shino is escorted to Kiba’s hospital room, he can already hear Kiba’s voice before he opens the door.

Kurenai is inside, and Shino feels relieved, that Kiba hadn’t had to wake up alone.

“Took you long enough,” Kiba complains even as his grin widens when he sees Shino come through the door. “Where’s Hinata?”

Shino doesn’t like keeping things from his teammates, but Sandaime had been very specific about keeping quiet about the previous night’s events. He imagines the earful he will get from Kiba eventually, and very quietly sighs behind the collar of his jacket.

“She’s been recalled back to the compound to recover.”

Kiba immediately looks worried, angry. “I knew it, Neji - that _asshole_ \- I should’ve known she was hiding how bad it was-”

“Don’t.” Kurenai lays her hand on Kiba’s shoulder while she looks at Shino, her gaze sharp and penetrating behind blood-red irises. “Hinata is stronger than that.”

Shino nods, grateful for the interjection. Kiba looks between the two of them with narrowed eyes just as Akamaru yawns loudly from the pillow.

Shino is more than ready to change the subject. “By the way, sensei, where were you yesterday?”

\---

Tenten gives Naruto a wide berth as she signs herself in to visit Lee. The handful of people in the waiting room give Naruto dirty looks and Kakashi tells Naruto to use his indoor voice.

“What do you mean? I want you to train me, Kakashi-sensei! I’ve already waited two days!”

“I still have something to do, so I don’t have enough time to train you as well.”

Naruto immediately looks suspicious. “You’re going to train Sasuke, aren’t you? That’s so unfair!”

“Now, now, don’t get mad. I’ve found a much better teacher for you,” Kakashi says, holding up his hands in a pacifying way.

Naruto grumbles petulantly. “Who?”

“That would be me,” says a shinobi with round sunglasses and a bandana style hitai-ate. Tenten recalls seeing him in the village sometimes, following the Sandaime’s grandson around.

“You- you’re the closet pervert!” Naruto practically shouts, pointing at the man in outrage. “He lost to me when I used my Harem no Juts-urk!” The shinobi with the sunglasses grabs Naruto into a light chokehold, hissing furiously into Naruto’s ear, and even Kakashi looks confused.

“Closet pervert?” Kakashi repeats. “Harem no Jutsu?”

“He’s such a joker, this boy.” The man lets go, and pats Naruto’s head with a forced laugh.

Kakashi blinks once and then visibly decides that he doesn’t want to know. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

“Unwilling acquaintances, I assure you,” says the man as he adjusts his sunglasses.

“This _sucks_ ,” Naruto complains. “Why him?”

Kakashi sighs. “Ebisu-sensei is an elite tutor, and a tokubetsu jounin. He’s much better at teaching than I am, especially since your basics are all over the place. You want to be stronger, don’t you?”

Naruto continues to look absolutely dissatisfied with Kakashi’s explanation, and Tenten is glad to be guided away from Naruto’s squawking by one of the nurses.

Later, she’ll look out the window of Lee’s hospital room and see multiple Narutos being chased by Ebisu around the village and think to herself, _I was wrong. Lee and Gai-sensei aren’t the only weird ones out there_.

\---

Hayate wakes up just as the sun makes its descent, feeling like he’d been sleeping for a month.

Gazeru leans into his field of vision, checking the movement of his pupils, and he’s kind of glad she never did dye her hair as the purple ends tickle his upper arm.

“Hi,” he says a little dopily, voice rough, and she punches him in the arm once, the force of it perfectly gauged to convey her annoyance and concern, before she retreats back into her strictly professional persona.

“Sensei?” Hinata appears to his right, looking worried.

“Hinata-kun,” he says, turning his head slightly to look at her. “Are you alright?”

Hayate watches her blink rapidly to compose herself, but her responding nod is determined even if her eyes are still a little glassy.

He remembers being much younger, waking up to Hideko’s blood-streaked expression of relief, while the both of them got scolded by her mother for being so reckless during a mission. The severity of the close-call didn’t really catch up to them until later.

Hayate’s chronic cough is the parting gift from that particular mission, and he remembers feeling a pang of disappointment when he realised that his health would not allow him to move past the rank of tokujo. Hideko had felt so guilty afterwards, wishing her first-aid had been better so he could have recovered fully, and Hayate remembers telling her she was being ridiculous - he was lucky to be alive at all, and there was nothing to regret about that.

He never got to say goodbye to her, had never made good on his promise to do something for her in return, and that’s what he regrets far more.

Hinata had gone above and beyond her limits to save him, and Hayate doesn’t want to have the same regrets. He wants Hinata to know how dear she is to him, to Kurenai and her team. He wants to build her up and give her an unshakeable core, to prevent her from following her mother’s footsteps if he can.

“Congratulations on your first Kage Bunshin,” he says, reaching out to gently circle her wrist, an echo of when he needed to share his chakra with her the night before. “You did so well, and you saved us both.”

\---

Later, Hiruzen listens to Hayate’s report with grim resignation. Orochimaru had indeed had a hand in every incident so far, and even Hiruzen could no longer keep up the hope that war could be kept off the table. Suna’s involvement, bringing an unstable jinchuuriki into Konoha to the Chuunin Exams, could only be for that purpose. Another regret, another mistake, to underestimate Orochimaru’s ambition and lust for power. 

He counts his blessings, that they have a little of a head start.

The uncertainty of exactly how many spies have infiltrated their ranks is still a concern. He remembers Kakashi’s unsettling report that Kabuto was able to perfectly mask himself as Konoha ANBU, including erasing his scent enough to escape Kakashi’s pursuit when his attempt to kidnap Sasuke was foiled. As one would expect of Orochimaru's favoured subordinate. There was an irony in the fact that because ANBU identities were so carefully protected and unknown to most of the village, that they would be the easiest to infiltrate.

That was the primary reason he had chosen Gazeru to guard Hayate and Hinata. Not many people knew of Gazeru’s off-duty relationship with the tokujo, and genuine affection was very hard to fake and remain undetected by the other partner. He could at least be assured of her genuine loyalty.

It would be a challenge to weed out the spies from the ANBU without alerting their enemies of the fact that they were onto them.

He lays his hat on his desk and sighs.

He wishes he had sent a bigger team to search for Jiraiya the day before, to follow the rumours on the wind that he had returned to the Land of Fire. But right now, he can't spare that kind of manpower, not with the looming threat in their midst.

The pain of missing his students still aches like an open wound, but if he has to fight this war without them, then so be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just sneak in a crackship? Who knows.
> 
> Alternate chapter summary: Hinata meets her teacher's family, and she realises how close she came to losing someone precious. Yuugao finally makes an appearance twenty-something chapters into this fic and Hiruzen is getting tired of Orochimaru stirring all the shit.


	26. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s not every day that Morino Ibiki gets to attend his genin teammate’s fake funeral, and he makes sure to look appropriately upset.

For most upper tier shinobi, the excitement of the Chuunin Exams quickly wanes when there are two held every year, and a large number of them are held in Konoha. With Hayate supposedly ‘missing’ still, confined to the Hokage Residence to assist in drafting plans and strategies with Sandaime and Nara Shikaku in the very spacious yet still windowless medical room, someone has to take over his duties as exam proctor for the final stage.

No one volunteers, much to the Sandaime’s amusement, and the otherwise unoccupied tokujo have to decide amongst themselves who gets the especially fun task of preparing the arena and refereeing the third stage fights, and possibly being at ground zero of an attack from another hidden village. Most of them are okay with the latter.

There is only one civilised and mostly fair way for them to decide who is the sucker that gets to spend the next month fielding all the RSVPs from the incoming dignitaries and making sure there are enough guards stationed throughout the arena to protect all the spoiled and powdered Daimyo and their entourage.

“Gods _damn it_ ,” Genma groans, with feeling, slumping onto the ground as he loses the janken tournament in the Jounin Standby Station.

Aburame Muta bends down to pat Genma on the shoulder once in sympathy, having won the last lightning round with paper to Genma’s rock. “My sincere condolences.”

Raido and Iwashi are off in the corner snickering at Genma’s misfortune because they are the _worst friends ever_ , and also because out of all of Genma’s skills, they all know diplomacy is not at the top. They all remember that special year when Genma almost poisoned one of the Land of Water Daimyo’s most irritating attendants, a hair’s breadth away from causing an international incident before the Hokage had to step in to smooth things over afterwards.

Genma maintains the three months of docked pay had been worth it, because that attendant never visited Konoha again.

\---

Gazeru takes Hinata ‘sightseeing’ every day for a week, a euphemism for testing how long Hinata could maintain a detailed, full-body Henge while using her Byakugan to spy on other ANBU at a distance.

After Gazeru tests the limits of Hinata’s range, she stares at Hinata for a long moment from behind the expressionless layer of porcelain, her body perfectly still and relaxed, giving nothing away. Hinata forces herself not to squirm or shrink under Gazeru’s scrutiny.

Hinata thinks faintly to herself that in comparison, Shino is practically an open book.

“Good.” Gazeru breaks the silence. Hinata is still not sure what exactly Gazeru is pleased about. The sun is already low in the sky, casting the horizon in a red and orange glow.

The back of her eyes throb from fatigue, but she’s proud that her Henge hasn’t faltered at all now, unlike the first few days, where she would have been exposed if Gazeru hadn’t also made her wear a physical disguise as well.

Gazeru pulls out a scroll from the depths of her cloak, and opens it to make another mark that Hinata can’t decipher.

\---

In the evening when they return to the windowless room that is their base until further notice, Gazeru sheds her mask. Yuugao helps herself to the books available in the Hokage’s personal archives, and makes Hinata practice fine chakra control without her Byakugan, gives her medical ninjutsu books to read.

Hayate does his own research on his side of the room, a stack of scrolls and record books beside him. Every now and then, he’ll look up to see Hinata form shaky, faint arcs of chakra from her palms with Yuugao’s instruction, and smile faintly as Yuugao points out to Hinata what she could be doing better.

Later, Hinata falls asleep over her dinner, slumped over her half-eaten onigiri, the medical ninjutsu book still in her lap.

“Relentless as ever,” Hayate says lightly, his voice edged with amusement, watching Yuugao extract the onigiri from Hinata’s hands before it can fall to the the floor.

Yuugao makes an unladylike snort as she puts the food aside. “I joined the ANBU when I was fourteen, and I had enormous shoes to fill.”

They both know she had been chosen to fill the gap in the ANBU that Uchiha Itachi’s defection had left behind.

“It’s not a criticism,” Hayate replies, watching her drape her cloak around Hinata’s shoulders in lieu of a blanket. “I know what you’re trying to do.”

“She has the aptitude for it, so it’s a shame she can’t see the tenketsu. Kurenai also did a good job teaching her genjutsu as well.” Yuugao sinks to the floor beside him, crossing one leg with her back against the wall, resting her eyes. “The potential of the Byakugan is quite wasted on the juuken.”

Hayate absently raises, then drops his shoulder in a half-shrug. “Combat is important too.”

“The average medic has to learn about anatomy and position of the chakra network in a shinobi’s body by trial and error over several years,” Yuugao says without opening her eyes. “Because they can’t see it. They have to learn by feeling, and sometimes they can do more damage than they have to, because the healing is generalised most of the time, and adjusting for differences in body composition is little more than guesswork. Imagine how effective a Hyuuga medic would be, how much better the outcomes would be.”

Hayate remembers having this debate before, just with someone else.

“Maybe, but the injured make great hostages,” Hayate says, flipping through another bound volume, noting every recorded appearance of Kabuto in the Chunnin Exams prior to the current one, another book open next to him filled with past mission logs. “Even if the Hyuuga make better medics, better outcomes mean nothing if the hospital or their team gets targeted by eye-hunters.”

Yuugao sighs heavily through her nose, opening her eyes just slightly to give him a disgruntled look, her eyelashes casting faint shadows on her cheek in the light. “You’re right. The Hyuuga have a stick up their ass for a reason.”

She leans closer, the delicate spiral leaf tattoo on her shoulder resting against the round whorl of the Uzushio crest on his uniform. “Still a shame.”

Hayate hums in agreement.

There’s no window here, no night sky to see, no moonrise to watch together - but Hayate still savours the brief moments of shared warmth as Yuugao drifts into a light doze beside him.

\---

Kurenai, being a genjutsu specialist (which requires a certain aptitude for psychological warfare and getting into people’s heads), often crosses paths with Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi, Konoha’s resident Intelligence Division dream team. When the Torture and Interrogation department is short on hands, she is on the reserve list of shinobi to call on. Mitarashi Anko is also on that list.

Ibiki generally prefers not to call Anko, because she enjoys it far too much, and because she’s loud.

So when Kurenai is flagged down on her way home by Mawashi from Inoichi’s Analysis Team, she doesn’t think much of it at first. The pause in her step is barely noticeable when she realises he wants to keep walking in the same direction instead of back to the Intelligence Headquarters.

“I have a message through Ibiki-san,” he says lowly, leaning in closer as if to move around other villagers bustling past, his rectangular glasses catching the light of a shop display for a brief moment. “He asks that you proceed as normal until they’ve pulled out the weeds.”

Kurenai suspected as much when Shino said Hinata had been taken back to the compound, but it was nice to not be kept in the dark. “Thanks.”

“Did you have a reply?”

Kurenai smiles and shakes her head, giving him a friendly pat on the arm, and Mawashi straightens his glasses before giving her a parting nod and walking away.

Kiba will be getting discharged today, which is just as well - Shino still needs to get ready for the Main Tournament and he’ll need a training partner.

\---

Tenten is hugging her knees on a patch of hill, staring blankly at the horizon, when someone approaches from behind.

She doesn’t bother looking up - the stride pattern is as familiar to her as her hitai-ate. “Sensei.”

Gai, for once, doesn’t try to burst into an earnest ramble about youthful pastimes of midsummer daydreams or something just as incomprehensible, and she doesn’t know if that makes her feel better or worse.

In the year and a half since she graduated the Academy, Tenten has become used to certain constants - that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; that Neji is the only other sane person in their team even if he is one of the most repressed and possibly joyless people she has ever met; that Gai-sensei is always embarrassing, passionate and optimistic; and that Lee would become just like him as a jounin.

She doesn’t think that Lee will ever defeat or surpass Neji, but she has never doubted that Lee would follow in Gai’s footsteps and become a formidable ninja in his own right.

Shinobi die all the time, get injured all the time, but Tenten would never have imagined that Lee’s career would end like this - that any one of their team, _Team Gai_ , would be forced to retire like this before they even made it to chuunin.

If Lee, who defied the odds to become a genin without any ability to use ninjutsu and genjutsu, couldn’t make it further than this, what about her?

Tenten is not ashamed of choosing to specialise in weapons, but as a member of Team Gai, the most promising team of the previous year’s graduating class, she couldn’t even scratch Temari. The memory of her defeat is a harsh reminder of how far she is from her goal to become a kunoichi as legendary as Senju Tsunade. Tenten wonders at how complacent she had become, blinded by the satisfaction of perfect marksmanship and her collection of ninja tools.

Gai crouches down beside her, squeezes her shoulder. “There is still hope for Lee, I’m sure of it. He will never give up on his _nindou_ , his ninja way. After the exams, I shall ask the Hokage for permission to search for Tsunade-sama, and she surely will be able to heal him.”

He gives her a thumbs-up, smiling with his disconcertingly bright white teeth and his nice-guy wink.

Tenten fights the automatic urge to roll her eyes, a deeply ingrained reflex by this point in their relationship. She’s not Lee, and she doesn’t know if she can bring herself to believe in her teacher’s liberally made nice-guy promises.

She remembers Neji’s disdain at the both of them when they first met, already dismissing Lee and her as not even worthy of a challenge. If she is honest with herself, she doesn’t think that’s changed all that much, even with Gai’s overbearing earnestness and their forced company dulling the more offensive edges of Neji’s self-importance enough that Neji occasionally comes close to being a polite human being.

She’s not Lee, but she’s definitely not Neji either.

It’s not over until it’s over.

“Argh!” Tenten yells out loud at the sky, making Gai blink at her sudden outburst.

Tenten claps herself firmly in the face twice, takes a deep breath, and swallows her doubts for another day. She gets to her feet.

“Sensei, when the exams are over, you’d better not forget to bring me with you to look for Tsunade-sama!”

Gai looks like he might break into loud and proud tears of manly joy, so Tenten breaks into a sprint before she can be pulled into a terrifyingly tight hug (and with Gai’s biceps, he can _hug_ ), or be given a speech about the passionate bonds of youth and friendship.

She doesn’t believe in nice-guy promises, not really.

She does believe in certain things though - that Neji is one of the strongest genin; that Lee will fight tooth and nail to get better; that she and Neji are the calm to Gai and Lee’s storm of green bodysuits and dramatic emotions.

It just wouldn’t be right for the four of them to be any other way.

\---

Kiba is annoyed.

Shino is no stranger to Kiba’s annoyance, but Shino is aware enough to know that if their positions were reversed, he would be just as annoyed. There’s a petty, childish voice inside him that says Kiba really has no right to be so agitated considering he’s done something like this before to Shino, only without a sliver of remorse.

But Shino can totally be the bigger person, in maturity as well as height, so as a peace offering Shino buys a packet of Kiba’s favourite brand of beef jerky and brings it to their training session with Kurenai. She gives him a knowing look, but says nothing to stop them when Shino suggests a taijutsu spar to warm up.

Kiba glares at him through slitted eyes, like he knows about Shino’s pacifying gestures, but the temptation of getting the chance to pummel Shino into the dirt is a bigger draw than resisting Shino’s attempts to appease him.

They both know Shino would win in a real all-out fight, but this is really just a brawl, with Akamaru yawning at Kurenai’s pedicured feet, and Shino not using his kikaichuu at all.

When it comes to purely physical prowess, Kiba easily outmatches Shino, and Kiba chooses to aggressively toss Shino around instead of just pinning him down and slugging him to claim victory.

Shino thinks about how sore he will be later, but it’s worth it if Kiba can vent his frustration over being unconscious while Hinata went off into danger alone, and having secrets kept from him.

Kurenai watches them from the shade, a bemused smile on her lips as she waits for them to tire themselves out.

\---

Gazeru submits her findings to Hiruzen. Her coded scroll reveals nothing out of the ordinary in the current ANBU forces scattered within the village, checked in tandem with the Byakugan.

One of the first lessons he remembers learning from his teacher, Senju Tobirama, is that a forest is never silent unless something is very wrong, and Hiruzen doesn’t believe for a moment that Rasa would go to the trouble of breaking a peace treaty with Konoha without ensuring the chances of victory were high enough. Orochimaru _might_ be arrogant enough to try and take down Konoha without trying to undermine them from the inside, but Hiruzen knows that Rasa would at least try to influence the outcome in the Suna’s favour.

The Sound is a new, small village, and the Sand’s growth in numbers have been stunted thanks to the Land of Wind’s Daimyo, as talented as the Suna shinobi are individually.

Sleeper agents, if not obvious spies. Double agents. Both are possible. Or perhaps the rot goes much deeper than the ANBU.

He really hopes he is wrong about the latter.

\---

Gekkou Hayate’s body is eventually ‘found’, the news of the discovery carefully disseminated through hushed whispers like a carefully laid trail of breadcrumbs. The body of an unnamed kunoichi is ‘found’ as well, unremarkable in every way, right down to her dark hair and common brown eyes.

As bait goes, it’s not the most masterful, but it does give them a necessary excuse to openly add more patrols in the village. Either the enemy will take the bait, or the enemy will start to escalate their plans out of suspicion that the information had been leaked regardless.

Still, it’s not every day that Morino Ibiki gets to attend his genin teammate’s fake funeral, and he makes sure to look appropriately upset at the small wake held at the Konoha Cemetery. Hayate would thoroughly enjoy hearing about it later, especially when Ibiki tells him about the moving yet slightly inappropriate speech prepared by Genma in retaliation for being saddled with his exam proctor duties.

\---

Hayate has a rare day not engaged in planning with Sandaime and Shikaku, so he takes over Hinata’s supervision for the day while Gazeru is engaged in a different task elsewhere. They’ve been given leave to use the underground training room of the Hokage Residence. A different ANBU guards them, stays crouched in the rafters where they remain in his line of sight. His mask is painted with the markings of the Dog.

“We’re going to do another endurance exercise today,” Hayate explains as he slides a loop of wooden beads onto each of her wrist, each bead carved with a character she couldn’t quite read. “I had to do this as well, with one of my teachers.”

Hayate places one hand against her clavicle, and his other forms a seal. “Fuinjutsu: Shishijuufuin.”

Hinata’s eyes widen as she suddenly sinks forward, the wooden beads glowing white. She struggles to return to a standing position, and it feels like she’s carrying boulders on each limb, and not just her arms.

“Your chakra control is improving rapidly, with all the new things you’re learning,” Hayate smiles, “but let’s not forget about the stamina building to match.”

Hinata nods in understanding, engaging the muscles in her limbs to try and get into her juuken kamae. It’s much, much harder than she thinks, and there are tremors in the lines of her stance. She becomes hyperaware of every muscle in her arms and legs, especially below the elbow and below the knee. Her entire arm shakes as her wrist fights gravity and the weight of the augmented beads, her legs feeling like she’s trapped waist deep in quicksand.

She’s sure her movements are almost comical to anyone watching, like observing a particularly uncoordinated newborn foal finding its legs. She stumbles over and over as she relearns how to coordinate the right muscle groups so she can move correctly. She slowly, agonisingly slowly, performs the first basic kata of the juuken.

Hayate tells her about the fights she missed in the preliminaries as he picks up and examines one of the swords mounted in a weapons stand on one side of the room. She’s only half-listening, concentrating so hard on her movements she doesn’t even realise Hayate is watching the rafters intently until he suddenly disappears in a flicker.

She turns, lurching sideways, activating her Byakugan in time to watch Hayate and Yuugao take down the ANBU in the purple and white Dog mask in perfect coordination, twin strikes sending the ANBU smashing into the concrete floor of the underground room.

Swords drawn, Hayate and Yuugao descend just as the ANBU in the Dog mask gets to his feet, Hayate speeding forward with his Tsukikage, leaving an afterimage in his wake. The ANBU in the Dog mask dodges the lateral strike but Yuugao is already behind him, a flash of purple hair as she goes low to the ground with a wide slash and severs the man’s Achilles tendons before he gets the chance to form hand seals.

A smatter of blood decorates the floor as the man cries out and falls to his knees. Hayate immediately knocks the ANBU unconscious with a blow to the head.

\---

“You can’t trust anyone these days,” Hayate says like he’s commenting on unseasonable weather and sheathes his sword, putting it back on the stand. Yuugao rolls her eyes, cleaning the blood off her sword before sheathing her own as he starts having a coughing fit, covering his mouth with the back of his arm.

Yuugao pulls out a blank tag from her utility pouch, dipping her fingers into nearest splatter of the ANBU's blood to draw a seal onto the paper. “I had him, but you just couldn’t resist, could you?”

“Can you blame me?” Hayate shrugs, clearing his throat. “Even I feel the need to stretch my legs sometimes.”

Yuugao removes the man’s ANBU mask with one hand, lays the tag on the unconscious man’s forehead. She forms the tiger hand seal, eyes closed in concentration as the blood drawn tag sinks under the man’s skin before disappearing. Hinata watches the chakra dim in the man, the glittering stream slowing into barely a trickle.

Yuugao unceremoniously throws the ANBU over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, absently wiping her bloody fingers off on the man’s cloak. “I’ll tell Ibiki you said hi. It’s almost time for lunch anyway, so the both of you should go back upstairs to the ward after cleaning up.”

She puts the man’s mask on her face like it was always hers to begin with, and Gazeru flickers away.

\---

A man stands in front of Gekkou Hayate’s gravestone in the quiet hours of the night. There’s a slight, almost melancholy slump to his shoulders, long spiky white hair down his back.

Hiruzen doesn’t bother to maintain the appearance of hiding in the shadows. “Jiraiya.”

“Sarutobi-sensei.”

To Hiruzen, the world rights itself just a little more to see one of his students here, home.

The weight of his regrets seem to become just that little bit lighter whenever he sees Jiraiya - the one of his precious students who never became corrupted by the possibilities of this life, never broke under the weight of this life.

To Hiruzen, in some of his darkest moments, Jiraiya is a reminder that Hiruzen has done at least one thing right.

He breaks the silence. “I heard you had come back to the Land of Fire, but I didn’t think you would come back to the village. Someone had reported a villager complaining about peeping toms at the hot springs several days ago, but I didn’t believe you would return to the village just for that.”

Jiraiya grins without a ounce of shame. “I needed some inspiration for my next book.”

It’s a lie, but Hiruzen can’t stop the chuckle that escapes.

They stand in silence for a while, decidedly not talking about what is most likely the real reason Jiraiya returned.

“Is it true?” Jiraiya glances at the gravestone.

Hiruzen’s heart aches for his student. Minato may have been his successor as Hokage, but Minato had been Jiraiya’s student first.

Hiruzen’s students may have scattered beyond the horizon, but at least they still lived, already an extraordinary thing in their line of work.

He can only imagine how painful the loss of a second student must be to Jiraiya. He wants to give Jiraiya the relief of the truth.

But before he is a teacher, he is the Sandaime Hokage. So he can’t.

Not yet.

He changes the subject. “I heard you stole Ebisu’s new pupil from right under his nose.”

\---

Hinata is quieter than usual at dinner, which is a feat in itself.

“Are you alright?” Hayate says later, as she struggles to form the chakra shrouds on her hands that Yuugao had showed her before.

The chakra building in her hands dissipates, and she chews slightly on her lower lip. He waits, gives her time to put the words together.

“Did I miss something? That man from the ANBU today - I knew his face. Yuugao-san asked me to check when we went out,” Hinata looks up at him. “...Did I mess up?”

Hayate blinks. A fond smile spreads across his face. “You didn’t mess up. He was just a really, really good spy.”

She has been doing so well that Hayate’s almost forgotten that she would inevitably compare herself to the shinobi that she normally might not work with until she had much more experience. He reaches out and ruffles her hair.

\---

The warm of Hayate’s hand in her hair is comforting, and the knot of doubt deep in her gut slowly relaxes.

“You’re still a rookie, and he is an ANBU,” Hayate continues, gentle in his reminder. “If you could see through him so easily, he’d be a terrible spy.”

She suddenly remembers Kiba grumbling at Kurenai when they had just completed their genin test. “ _If we could take your hitai-ate just after graduating, you'd be a crappy jounin.”_

Perspective - she had lost it. She didn’t mess up - it had never been something for her to notice.

She lets out a breath. She misses her team, misses Kiba and Shino and Akamaru and Kurenai. She feels a little guilty for it, considering how lucky she is to spend so much time with Hayate and Yuugao. But as she looks up at the soft expression on Hayate’s face, it feels a lot like when she finally learnt that, for her team, she never needed to ask whether she was welcome.

There are no windows here, no sunrise to watch, only the faint smell of disinfectant that lingers like a universal constant in hospitals and medical wards.

It’s not at all like Kurenai’s apartment, but the feeling she had, as she watched the sun come up from Kurenai’s window - the feeling is the same.

Like she’s the most fortunate girl in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N: Fuinjutsu: Shishijuufuin = Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal. Not a made-up jutsu, it's in one of the Naruto games, and the only recorded user of it is Jiraiya.
> 
> Also, I would like to clarify that at the moment the only OCs that are mine are Hyuuga Hideko and Hyuuga Hiroko. Everyone else (that is named) is a real character from either manga or anime canon, in case you were wondering why there's a bazillion people. Narutopedia is a wonderful place to get lost in.
> 
> And yes, I have intended Hayate to be Jiraiya's student all along because the Toton Jutsu (Transparent Escape Technique) is of Jiraiya's invention to spy on naked women. In anime canon, Hayate was apparently chosen to spy on Kabuto because he was very proficient at the Toton Jutsu.
> 
> If you are confused about something and don't want to go to Narutopedia, leave me a comment and I'll clarify it if it's not a spoiler :)


	27. Foreboding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time creeps forward towards the Main Tournament.

During one of their daily pilgrimages to the hospital with flowers for Lee and Sasuke, Sakura and Ino run into Shino and Kiba.

“Oh yeah, he’s gone,” Kiba makes a vague swooping motion with one hand, the other scratching Akamaru behind the ears, Shino silent and unreadable beside him. “He basically ran off before they could discharge him. The staff were freaking out until they found Kakashi-sensei’s note.”

Ino looks down at the once again wasted rose in her hand, and in a sudden fit of temper, pitches it a considerable distance away for a projectile with terrible aerodynamics. “ _Boys_!” she hisses, the tuft of hair that used to be a long ponytail bobbing angrily at the back of her head.

Kiba has a very healthy fear of pissed off females, and ducks behind Shino with zero shame as Ino dusts off her hands. Shino stares at Kiba judgmentally.

“I’m going to find Shikamaru and Chouji!” Ino declares, storming off.

Sakura wishes she could be surprised by her team’s utter lack of social graces, but she’s not. Naruto might as well have been raised by wolves, Kakashi reads erotic novels in public, and Sasuke is....Sasuke.

Deep down, under the disappointment of not being able to visit Sasuke, she’s a little hurt that Kakashi didn’t even ask her to get involved in Sasuke or even Naruto’s training. Or even a training plan for herself. Sure, she can understand that he would prioritise training the other two because they were competing in the Main Tournament, but not a single task?

“I’m just a leftover,” Sakura mutters gloomily to the daffodils wilting in her grip, leaning against a lightpost.

To both Kiba and Sakura’s surprise, Shino is the one that breaks the silence. “Come and train with us.”

They both gape at him.

“That is because it is better to train with a variety of skillsets,” Shino says calmly. “It would be of benefit to all of us.”

Just like that, Shino starts moving, and only glances back at them once, clearly expecting them to follow. Kiba mutters to Akamaru under his breath, but he doesn’t tell Sakura to come with or go away.

Sakura’s feet are already moving before she really thinks about it.

\---

Gazeru drops off another two ANBU bodies at Torture & Interrogations’ doorstep in the following week, and Ibiki is vaguely reminded of a cat leaving its kill proudly on a human’s favourite rug.

Ibiki loves his job, but he also loves sleep, and ANBU by design tend to have torture resistance training. It will take more time than he’d like to crack them, especially since Inoichi works for both departments and oversees more teams. The shinobi that join the Intelligence Division tend to gravitate towards the Analysis side of the Intelligence Division rather than T&I, which doesn’t help.

Ibiki watches the surveillance cameras of the isolation rooms that hold the unconscious and restrained ANBU. He reviews their records for potential soft spots while he savours his special tea, strong and bracing enough to make even the most caffeine-dependent shinobi flinch when they try it for the first time.

“Already on your prison tea?” Anko says from behind him. “You must be getting old, Ibiki.”

“I asked for Kurenai,” he retorts, and she simply grins back at him with all her teeth.

“Too bad, too sad, I’m the only one available right now,” Anko almost sings at him as she plants herself into a spinning chair. “Gotta keep you on your toes. So how’re you going with the first guy? Isn’t he the ANBU Commander guy? Can I have a go at him?”

Ibiki thinks he should’ve brewed more than one cup. It’s going to be a long day.

\---

The beads around her wrist start glowing blue as Hinata gets used to the feeling of her limbs being weighed down. Sweat runs down her neck as she keeps practicing her katas, and she realises the new colour means a new weight.

“Nicely done.”

She spins around, lilting slightly to the left from the motion of the new weight. “Hokage-sama,” she says, immediately straightening herself before bowing properly.

He waves away any other formalities. “How would you like to join an old man and his grandson for lunch hm? You must have been restless, cooped up in here while Yuugao and Hayate have been occupied.”

Hinata gapes at him a little as she lifts her head. Lunch with the Hokage?

“Of course, we will need you to maintain a disguise while you’re out,” Sandaime says, a gleam of amusement in his eyes, like they’re sharing a great secret. “We don’t want to alarm your father, do we?”

She shakes her head a little more firmly than she needs to, and he gestures for her to follow, humming cheerfully around his smoking pipe.

\---

Tenten spends all her free time helping Neji train, and while Gai occasionally joins them, he spends most of his time with Lee and going through all the specialist medics of Konoha in hopes for an improvement in Lee’s diagnosis.

It’s just as well that Neji really doesn’t need much teaching, just an opponent. Tenten may have had a humiliating defeat in the face of Temari’s wind-based jutsu and iron fan, but she is capable of challenging her own teammates at least.

She continues to be taken aback by Neji’s pace of self-improvement and self-learning. _This is the difference between the ordinary and the genius_ , she thinks, as she summons another arsenal from another scroll.

He avoids every one, and remains unscathed as dozens and dozens of weapons litter the ground. He’s already much faster than he was during the preliminaries. There’s already several dips worn into the ground from his movements.

“So not everyone in your clan can do that, right?” Tenten pants from exertion, surrounded by empty scrolls. She needs to work on adjusting the seals, make her scrolls more efficient.

Neji leans his weight against a tree, stretching his calf muscles. “Only the Main House is taught this.”

“And you learned this, just from watching them?”

Neji looks at her like he would appreciate if she stopped asking stupid questions, but Tenten has already been well exposed to Neji’s disdain for everyone around him, and is mostly immune.

“I mean, if all of the Hyuuga could do that, it’d be incredible,” she says, sitting down to take a break. There’s a sliver of satisfaction she holds close to her chest when she notes a light sheen of sweat along the skin she can see below his hitai-ate, even if his breathing is still relatively even.

“They would need to see the tenketsu first.” His reply is matter-of-fact, like he’s commenting on the colour of the sky. “Not all of us can.”

Tenten tilts her head slightly. “Even with training?”

“No. That’s why it’s called talent.”

Occasionally, Tenten still gets the urge to deck Neji in the face.

\---

At first, when his grandfather walks out of his office with someone he doesn’t recognise, Konohamaru thinks that the old man is going to flake on his lunch promise - it wouldn’t be the first time. But his grandfather simply introduces the person next to him as Aozaru Kouya.

“...Kouya...niichan?” Konohamaru says, looking up at the girly-looking older boy with spiky blue-black hair and blue eyes. He has a string of blue beads around each wrist.

“Nice to meet you, Konohamaru-kun,” Kouya says politely.

Konohamaru instantly likes him for not calling him omago-sama at first sight.

\---

Kurenai raises an eyebrow when three genin turn up at the training field instead of the two she was expecting.

“...I see we’ve picked up a stray on the way here,” she says, eyeing Shino and Kiba.

Kiba jabs his thumb in Shino’s direction. “He told her to come.”

“I can go, if it’s too much trouble,” Sakura says quickly, a little embarrassed.

Kurenai shakes her head, waving away her protests. “Hinata won’t be able to train with us for now, so you might as well help Kiba challenge Shino a little more.”

\---

Asuma is in the middle of trying to convince Chouji to take it easy on the premium meats when his father walks into Yakiniku-Q with Konohamaru and a stranger in tow. There’s a small twinge of guilt somewhere in the bottom of his stomach when he catches his father’s eye as they pass.

A voice inside him that sounds like his dead mother Biwako chides him for declining his father’s invitations, especially with how sporadic they were.

There’s still a rift between them that Asuma isn’t quite ready to mend yet, and he looks away, focussing on his students. Shikamaru looks at him like he’s already analysed him and can’t be bothered to actually take the additional effort to be judgemental about it, Ino is talking into his ear about eating her feelings’ worth of tomato salad and Asuma is distracted enough to nod when Chouji sneakily asks for more kalbi.

\---

One of the captured ANBU manages to commit suicide before Ibiki orders the two remaining ANBU captives to be monitored at all times before they can do the same, blood signature seal or not.

“I want Kumadori to drop whatever he’s doing and get over here to do an autopsy,” Ibiki barks at Tonbo and Mawashi through the short range radio. He hears a crackle and the responding confirmation from his subordinates before he hooks the radio back onto his belt.

“What a mess,” Anko complains as they look down at the dead ANBU, now in very literal pieces, blood and other fluids congealing on the floor.

“This is why they created power washers,” Ibiki says as he goes looking for a clean dissection trolley, wheeling it closer, along with a box of gloves. “Make sure to collect all the pieces.”

“There’s blood on my toes, urgh.” Anko wrinkles her nose as she picks up a piece of what she’s sure is part of a liver with gloved fingers. “And these sandals were new too.”

Ibiki pointedly jabs his thumb at the giant sign on the door that says to wear boots in this area at all times.

“Yeah, yeah, _fine_ ,” Anko grumbles, gingerly running her fingers through what looked like reddish brown sludge to see if she missed any other bits, determinedly not thinking about what other fluids were pooling across the floor. She is definitely taking a very long shower after this. And burning her sandals.

\---

Hinata is relieved when Sandaime is led into a private room for their lunch. She doesn’t think her Henge will necessarily waver, but she doesn’t know if she could stop herself from reacting if she were to see her team walk past the cutout windows of the restaurant.

Konohamaru reminds her of Naruto, with his childish irreverence of Sandaime, even though he is Konohamaru’s grandfather _and_ the current Hokage. She tries to imagine having the casual impertinence to call her own grandfather, one of the Hyuuga elders, an epithet like _jijii_ , old geezer. A bubble of amusement rises in her chest and she covers her mouth and nose with one hand as she schools her expression.

Sandaime is in a good mood today, and she wonders if something has happened in their favour.

“Kouya-niichan.” Konohamaru grins at her, at Kouya, as they are seated. There’s a chip in one of his front teeth. “You look strong, you should train with me after lunch. Ebisu-sensei got knocked out by a _huge_ toad yesterday when he was training Naruto-niichan.”

Hinata blinks at him, then glances at Sandaime, who is unhelpfully perusing the menu and not making eye contact with her.

“Well, that would depend on Hokage-sama,” she says carefully, trying to hide her fluster when Konohamaru visibly wilts at her response.

She hasn’t needed to placate a child since Hanabi became old enough to walk into the arms of the Main House and be trained to replace her. She can’t even remember the last time Hanabi had even desired her attention.

“Aw, I wanted someone to practice my improved jutsu on,” Konohamaru pouts.

“Improved jutsu?” Hinata echoes curiously just as Sandaime clears his throat loudly before Konohamaru can elaborate.

“Lunch first, Konohamaru.”

\---

Jiraiya is watching Naruto summon tadpole after tadpole out by the water, glancing longingly at the waterfall where the sound of young women’s laughter was coming from, when someone Shunshins behind him.

“...That sly tanuki-jijii,” Jiraiya says with a wry laugh.

Hayate bows deeply behind him, hidden under Yuugao’s ANBU cloak. “Jiraiya-sensei.”

“Did Sandaime tell you where to find me?” Jiraiya asks.

Hayate’s laugh has a harsher rasp to it than Jiraiya remembers. “There’s gossip of a toad-riding man being sighted at the hot springs. You weren’t trying very hard to be discreet.”

Sandaime had come looking for him, and, happily, Hayate had come looking for him. There’s an irrational, lingering hope that Orochimaru might show himself, even if just to insult him, but Jiraiya knows it’s wishful thinking.

Still, two out of three isn’t bad.

“How is your health?” Jiraiya asks. The rumours of Hayate’s demise were clearly greatly exaggerated, but the frequent patrols in the village had dammed a lot of the usual information leaks on either side.

“As well as I can expect,” Hayata coughs deliberately. “Will you be staying for some time? It seems you have acquired another student.”

“He is almost your complete opposite,” Jiraiya says with a smile. “He followed me across town to convince me to take him on as a student. You, on the other hand -”

“Refused the dubious privilege of studying under a peeping tom?” Hayate quips. “Even if he were one of the Legendary Sannin.”

Jiraiya chuckles. “Says the one who slept with almost half the shinobi in the village in his prime.”

He remembers how Hayate had learnt the Toton Jutsu out of pure spite so he could sneak up on Jiraiya during his peeping time and rat him out to the unsuspecting bathers, including Tsunade, who gave Jiraiya the greatest beating of his life. If Hayate’s chakra control had been suitable for medical ninjutsu, Jiraiya is sure Tsunade would have adopted him for her own.

“All consenting partners, if you don’t mind,” Hayate says almost primly. “I’m in a committed relationship now.”

“You were always a good kid,” Jiraiya says, clapping Hayate on the shoulder. “So why are you impersonating an ANBU?”

“We believe Oto and Suna are planning to invade Konoha during the Chuunin Exam Main Tournament. Suna have allied themselves with Orochimaru, and there are spies within Konoha. We are hoping you will stay close to the village until things are resolved.”

In the distance, Naruto starts swaying from chakra exhaustion, taking longer and longer between Kuchiyose attempts.

“I would have anyway,” Jiraiya replies. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“There is. I went through decades of records about Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto and their known associates. Some things don’t add up, and records can be modified. If you were present at some of the events, I would like to know what you actually remember of them.”

“And in the whole village, you couldn’t think of anyone else to ask?” Jiraiya says with a sharp look at Hayate’s borrowed mask.

“If the records were modified to this point, this means Sandaime-sama allowed those modifications. I believe Sandaime-sama would have his own reasons for that.”

Jiraiya smiles wryly to himself. Hayate was always like a stubborn dog with a scent when he thought something wasn’t quite right. It nearly killed him a few times, with his relentless digging for the truth.

“But Sandaime-sama let Orochimaru get away once,” Hayate continues. “I doubt Konoha will be unscathed from a combined attack from the Oto and Suna. We have caught three suspicious ANBU but the pattern is all wrong for a recent defection. It makes far more sense for them to have been planted a very long time ago.”

“How do you know I wouldn’t do the same as Sandaime?” Jiraiya asks, crossing his arms.

Hayate tilts his head at Jiraiya.

“Because you are a truthseeker too, Jiraiya-sensei.”

\---

“We’re losing this one too!” Anko shouts from the corridor, as one of the other ANBU captives starts turning blue in his cell.

Ibiki swears loudly and rushes in to help Anko hold down the struggling ANBU, his eyes wide and unseeing, unable to breathe. They strap him onto a trolley and Anko goes ahead to tell Kumadori to prep the oxygen as Ibiki comes around the corner.

He’s never been so happy to see Inoichi heading their way.

“Sorry - we’re short-handed everywhere,” Inoichi says as Kumadori holds an oxygen mask over the ANBU’s face. The man’s mouth moves in soundless gasps for air and that’s a terrible sign.

“I don’t get it, there is no obstruction,” Kumadori says sharply, his other hand shrouded in green chakra as he hovers over the man’s throat then chest, sweat beading on his forehead in concentration. “This has to be some of jutsu.”

“They were all checked for seals when they were processed,” Mawashi replies in annoyance, brandishing a clipboard. “And it’s not even the same kind of self-destruct as the other guy.” He jabs the clipboard at the resting in pieces ANBU in the other trolley.

“Shut up please,” Inoichi says through gritted teeth as he tries to delve into the man’s head before they’re too late.

\---

Hiruzen has a terrible feeling about this, but he’s old, not dead, and occasionally he enjoys watching things burn (figuratively) in a safe, controlled environment. Biwako is probably turning in her grave in disapproval at the antics of her grandchild.

Hinata, as Kouya, remains blank-faced at the sight of Konohamaru’s curvy and bouncy Oiroke-no-jutsu.

A beat of silence. Konohamaru looks decidedly put out that Kouya didn’t turn into a spray of blood at the sight of a scantily clad woman. “Wait, how did this not work? Iruka-sensei totally fell for it in class!”

Hiruzen silently apologises to every Academy teacher that has ever had to deal with his grandson.

Kouya opens his mouth. “Konohamaru-kun.”

Hiruzen wonders if he’s going to need to rescue his grandson from the rightful wrath of an indignant woman.

“Kouya-niichan?”

Kouya points to Konohamaru’s very generous and quivering bust in a strapless mini-dress. “That’s not quite how breasts are supposed to move. Are you trying to be braless or with a bra? That will change the movement of breasts. Also it’s physically impossible for a person’s rear to curve so steeply at that angle.”

Hiruzen takes a moment to question his entire life choices (and wipe the blood off his face) as the former Heir to the Hyuuga, disguised as a man, gives his grandson an anatomy and physics lesson to help him improve the realism of his Sexy Technique.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N: Omago-sama: respectful title for a superior's grandson e.g. Honourable Grandson
> 
> A/N: Another chapter that had to be dragged kicking and screaming into existence. Also an attempt at mood whiplash because I do so enjoy the Oiroke-no-jutsu. 
> 
> Bonus points to you if you get the reference of Hinata's disguise name (not a Narutoverse reference).
> 
> I always found Jiraiya to be a more jaded/practical kind of guy, despite the comedy perversion and ultimately being a Naruto fanboy. He was ready to kill people who were important to him out of loyalty to the village, including Orochimaru, Tsunade if she chose to betray Konoha, and even Nagato, his own student, when the situation deemed it necessary. By comparison Hiruzen is far more idealistic and far less willing to kill, and it (to me) presents an interesting conundrum about loyalty and doing what is necessary, as well as the long term effects.
> 
> ~~Yes, Hayate is hella bi and had a very sex-positive adolescence. Yuugao doesn't mind.~~


	28. Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~Loose threads keep popping up, like daisies!~~
> 
> Ibiki and Inoichi have encountered very, very few captives that they have been unable to crack, especially after combining their respective expertise.

They’re too late, and the second ANBU captive dies on the dissection trolley of hypoxia, of all things.

Inoichi has to go clear his head in the T&I meeting room, having almost let his own consciousness be dragged down with a dying man’s, especially just coming off a different job in his own department.

Everyone is tired and irritated and not just a little on edge. Ibiki tells Kumadori to go and eat something before he starts the new autopsy. The medic-nin doesn’t need to be told twice, immediately removing his gloves and apron, beelining for the break room to stuff his face with packaged manju.

At least they didn’t need to scrub the entire room again, Ibiki thinks grimly to himself, rubbing his temples.

“We only have one left, we had better make it count,” Ibiki says aloud to the others. “Who’s the fuinjutsu specialist on call?”

Mawashi consults his clipboard. “Shigaraki Tanuki.”

\---

Sakura graduated the Academy with some of the highest scores of her year group, and it is a point of pride for her that she was able to answer the questions in the first stage of the Chuunin Exams from her knowledge and smarts alone without cheating. She knows she lacks the physical skills to excel all around as Sasuke did, still lags behind Sasuke and Naruto in that aspect, but she had thought that was the point of the genin teams, to balance and complement their strengths and weaknesses.

“Sakura!” Kurenai says sharply from the trees and Sakura yelps, ducking inelegantly as Kiba swipes past her to attack Shino, a blur of colour with his Shikyaku no Jutsu.

Despite their vastly different fighting styles, watching Shino and Kiba fight reminds her of the Land of Waves mission, of when Sasuke and Naruto came up with a plan on the fly and managed to break Kakashi out of the Zabuza’s Water Prison. Even then, those two had been in sync and Sakura had been the odd one out.

The feeling of inadequacy she’s kept tamped down returns with a vengeance, like a splinter rubbing against a nerve.

She’s never worked with Shino and Kiba before, and she should be the odd one out here - but she’s been a member of Team 7 for more than six months. She shouldn’t feel this way in her own team and it just makes her so angry, the urge to scream climbing up her throat -

Shino catches her wrist easily to stop her kunai and twists, sweeping his foot under her to take her down.

It’s so humiliating. Sakura picks herself up out of the dirt, tempted to just bow out before she keeps embarrassing herself.

Kiba sticks his head in her line of sight. “Stop sulking.”

Her face heats. “I’m not-”

“Seriously, you’re shedding angst everywhere,” Kiba says as he scratches the bridge of his nose delicately, his nails still long and sharp from the Shikyaku no Jutsu. “Stop thinking about Sasuke and Naruto for a while. It’s screwing your concentration.”

Sakura sputters. “Wha- how did you-”

Kiba shrugs, slow and deliberate, and then he unfolds himself to stretch.

Kurenai descends from the trees, barely disturbing the dirt underfoot when she lands. “Let’s change it up. Shino, Kiba, tree-walking reps - slowly, without cheating. Sakura, I want you to learn how to do a chakra controlled landing like this.”

\---

Kumadori resumes the autopsy of second ANBU and Tanuki arrives, to make sure the seals are still correct and active on the third ANBU.

Anko drums her fingers against the doorjamb, watching. There’s something odd about these ANBU and she can’t quite put her finger on it. The blood signature seal is one of the strongest known seals for suppressing chakra activity, a specialty of the ANBU when they need their prey to be taken alive. There would have been no opportunity for someone to tamper with the seal before Gazeru had left the bodies in their custody.

T&I staff don’t work alone on a captive, for accountability and protection. Orochimaru wasn’t the type to go to the trouble of planting a spy into the T&I department for some decades on the minute off-chance that they would be able to interfere with specific captives without anyone else realising. If that was the case, then she would have been the best choice for infiltration.

The Orochimaru she knows can be patient, but he wouldn’t be that patient for something like this. Too subtle, no display to rub in anyone’s faces, no front row ticket to watch the blades of the windmill spin.

A memory floats to the edge of her thoughts. She’s lying on a cold, barely cushioned examination bench, her forehead and eyes covered by a medical sealing band. She remembers hearing the steady beep of a monitor, dim light creeping under the band where it lay across the bridge of her nose. The back of her neck had been bare, then.

Orochimaru’s voice. She doesn’t remember what he was saying, the words hazy, faded like the faces on a poorly stored photograph. There’s a different voice replying to him, and she doesn’t know that voice.

Something cold enters her vein through the IV, quickly turns into the sensation of fire. She starts crying out from the pain, except there’s a tube in her throat, and she chokes around it. There are more words being thrown around, still gibberish in her memories, but there’s one sentence she remembers clearly.

 _As expected of my student_. Everything hurts, burns, but it’s easier to bear because Orochimaru is pleased - pleased with her.

“Anko?” Ibiki’s voice pierces her thoughts.

Anko rubs her face with her hand, blinking away the cobwebs of her past. “Sorry.”

This has to be someone else’s work. Another colluder.

Tanuki returns from examining the third ANBU.

“Kumadori, check the back of the tongue,” Tanuki says without preamble, pushing past Anko on the way in. “It might be a Juin.”

\---

Jiraiya thumbs through Hayate’s helpfully provided list of suspicious events as he watches over Naruto’s incredibly slow progress. The boy looks so much like Minato that Jiraiya might have needed to do a double-take the first time he lay eyes on him, except Minato would have never worn that orange jumpsuit.

The boy is truly awful at controlling his incredible amount of chakra. That could partly be blamed on his body rejecting the Kyuubi’s intense power, but Jiraiya can recognise the signs of someone who daydreamed through almost every class - just like he did when he was still a fresh-faced genin himself.

He has a bit more appreciation now for Sandaime’s patience with him all those years ago.

\---

Hiruzen sneezes loudly, earning twin unimpressed looks from both Homura and Koharu.

“You cannot put this off forever, Sandaime,” Koharu says sternly. “You need to name a successor, especially with this business about Orochimaru being sighted in the village.”

Hiruzen resists the deep-seated urge to roll his eyes heavenward. “Here, the hat is yours. Congratulations.”

Koharu smacks him in the leg with her cane, her scowl all the more menacing when she decided to drop the pretence of needing to squint. “I might not be able to defeat you, Hiruzen, but I can make it hurt.”

Homura sighs at the decades-old bickering between his former teammates. “If only Jiraiya would change his mind. He is the most suitable candidate.”

“Tsunade would be a fine candidate,” Hiruzen interjects.

Homura and Koharu exchange glances in a way that always gets on Hiruzen’s nerves. Mostly because it almost always precedes something unpleasant coming out of their mouths.

“Tsunade has the power, the heritage, but she is still too soft,” Koharu says. Hiruzen is briefly tempted to throw at least one of them out an open window. They’d survive it anyway.

Homura crosses his arms. “She has been retired for _years_ , grieving for Kato Dan and Nawaki. The one who bears the name and responsibility of a Kage cannot buckle so completely from personal loss. We are shinobi. It is only most of the youngest generation that have been spared the pain of loss.”

 _For now_ , goes unsaid.

“And that is why we need a more suitable, _willing_ candidate,” Homura continues.

“Danzo is out of the question,” Hiruzen snaps, any good humour he has left immediately draining away.

Koharu and Homura exchange looks again.

“...Hatake Kakashi then?” Koharu suggests, the two of them clearly having decided to concede to Hiruzen’s objection.

“Too young.” Homura shakes his head. “Maybe in a few years.”

\---

Somewhere on the outskirts of the village, Kakashi gets an unpleasant chill down his spine as he straps weights on Sasuke for speed training.

\---

Days pass, one slipping into another, and Hinata’s beads slowly change from blue to green.

Yuugao has been away often, plugging the holes in the ANBU roster, and Hayate spars with her when he has time. Today, Hayate decides to resume some of their kenjutsu training, and they have a match with wooden swords.

Hayate takes the offensive during the first round. Hinata scrambles to parry Hayate’s strikes with her bokutou, trying not to forget her forms. It doesn’t take long at all before he manages to knock the sword out of her hand, disarming her, the tip of his bokutou stopping just short of her head.

He flips the bokutou around in his hand so the hilt faces her. “Your turn.”

“Hai.” She dips her head in a bow as she takes the offered bokutou. He moves backwards as she gets into stance.

It’s a strange sensation, constantly recalibrating just how much force to put behind every movement. Too much and she’d simply throw herself off balance and off target. Too little and she wouldn’t be able to lift her hand to her face.

The Konoha-ryu kenjutsu movements are based on speed and lightness, like leaves riding a galewind. It is not so dissimilar to the juuken, even if the movements of the juuken are built on suppleness and almost perpetual motion. The juuken only needs to connect once in the right place to stop someone’s heart, and the pinnacle of kenjutsu is not about making a thousand cuts, but the one, the right one.

She flexes her grip minutely on the hilt of her bokutou, staying conscious of her breathing as she has been taught to. She can’t hope to land a point on Hayate using pure taijutsu, so she gathers chakra to her feet, the soles of her feet pulsing with compressed energy.

She charges across the floor in an explosion of chakra, trying to mimic his Tsukikage.

\---

As the leader of the Yamanaka, Inoichi is required to be very proficient at his clan’s techniques, at extracting information and delving deep into his opponents’ minds, his victims’ minds. Ibiki and Inoichi have encountered very, very few captives that they have been unable to crack, especially after combining their respective expertise.

Even then, the blocks in this ANBU’s mind are absolutely deliberate, yet so seamless in his mindscape that they almost seem _designed_ to counter Inoichi’s mind-probing abilities. _Designed_ to counter the Yamanaka clan techniques. Sinking into the man’s subconscious was like trying to navigate an endless maze in a snowstorm. Dead end after dead end after dead end.

The thought of the enemy having such in-depth knowledge of his clan’s abilities sends a chill down his spine. Who would have betrayed the Yamanaka like this? How far has the enemy infiltrated their ranks, in the shadows and in plain sight?

He retreats out of the ANBU’s mind and shakes his head at Ibiki, who looks shocked. They’ve both seen so much in their careers that it takes a lot to unsettle either of them anymore.

They can’t risk this one dying, so they put him back under the blood signature seal in the warded trolley. There is no point interrogating him further until Inoichi can figure out a way to get past the mind blocks, or new information presents itself.

Inoichi pries open the unconscious ANBU’s mouth to take a look at the Juin that Kumadori confirmed finding when he was prompted by Tanuki. Ibiki helpfully directs an examination light over Inoichi’s shoulder so he doesn’t have to strain to see the Juin.

It’s clever. Kumadori had foregone the physical examination when the previous ANBU had gone hypoxic, and medic-nin tend to go straight to addressing potential blockages or obstructions with chakra, especially in urgent situations. Healing chakra is deployed to both repair affected areas and detect foreign bodies, and in general it is the right course of action, the one that any good medic-nin would jump straight to on reflex to keep someone alive.

The first ANBU hadn’t been intact enough to detect any kind of Juin, even after attempting to reassemble the man. Enough parts of him had liquified in his self-destruct that even a closer examination on what was left of his tongue had been inconclusive as to whether the man shared the same Juin.

The differing methods of death are also mystifying. Like assembling a puzzle halfway and looking down at a patchwork of pieces from entirely unrelated puzzles.

The only lead they have is this Juin that at least two of the ANBU share.

\---

Sandaime summons Hinata into his office five days before the Main Tournament and gives her an assignment. She opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again, the words sticking in her throat.

“But...I’m just a genin, who couldn’t even defeat another genin.”

Sandaime’s eyes crinkle, his chin resting on the bridge of his hands. “You weren’t really trying to win.”

Her face heats. “I-”

“You've never told them how unusual your sight range is, have you.”

Hinata freezes in place.

“Young Shino never said it outright, but between his account and Hayate’s account of what happened that night, it occurred to me that there are very few ways you could have been able to observe the situation so closely without being detected, let alone escape from a jounin, unless our opponents are much weaker than we thought. Hayate’s injury report tells me this is not the case.”

Hinata hesitates, then bends forward in a deep bow. “Please forgive me for withholding information.”

There’s a faint smile on Sandaime’s face as he shakes his head. “I wasn’t blaming you.”

If Sandaime noticed, did anyone else? A familiar unease brews inside her at the thought of the Hyuuga realising what she is capable of.

She remembers walking through the streets as Kouya with Sandaime and Konohamaru. While people still looked at them because the Hokage was walking about town, their eyes just slid off her without any interest, without a single double-take. Her steps had never been so light, then.

“You don’t have to take this mission,” Sandaime says after a moment. His eyes are still soft and kind. “We have a protocol for this situation already, but your eyes can make a significant difference in the overall outcome.”

The understanding on his face makes her feel instantly ashamed. She drops her gaze to his desk, covered in stacks of coded reports. A drawing of grouped, blocky lines stares back at her from one of the reports at the top.

She’s been so preoccupied with her own goals, trying to preserve her tenuous freedom from the Hyuuga. But what weight does that hazy, still shapeless idea of freedom hold compared to the immediate reality of her teammates, her teachers, their lives, the lives that they treasure in turn?

Hinata bows again. “Please allow me to take this assignment.”

\---

“Well, that’s a little extreme,” Hayate says mildly from the trees.

“He needed a push,” Jiraiya says with a sniff.

Hayate’s voice takes on a wry tone. “...Off a cliff?”

“Three weeks of tadpoles,” Jiraiya retorts. “Even your ani-deshi would have had to use more extreme methods.”

Hayate is about to reply, but chakra erupts out of the steep ravine near the falls, the force of energy spraying water everywhere like a sudden rain shower.

“See?” Jiraiya grins.

“You do realise he’s summoned Gamabunta-san.”

Jiraiya shuffles off and away from the edge of the ravine, throwing his hands into the air. “He’ll be fine. Gamabunta’s a cranky bastard but he won’t kill the boy.”

Hayate tilts his face upward in a distinctly exasperated gesture. “Does this mean you’ve finished with my list, sensei?”

\---

Sakura manages to divert Shino’s attention in a genjutsu for a solid three seconds, which is more than enough of an opening for Kiba to body slam Shino into the dirt and slap a large sticky tag that reads ‘BA~KA’ on Shino’s face.

The tag is Kiba’s idea.

“Excellent - Sakura, Kiba.”

“Finally! Hell yes!” Sakura shouts in triumph, punching the air.

Shino peels the Idiot tag off his face. “I still got two out of three.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep bragging,” Kiba snorts. “We still got you this ti-” His nose twitches as the breeze picks up, still in his Shikyaku mode. A massive grin spreads across his face, and he starts running.

\---

“Hinata!”

Hinata isn’t quite sure if it’s her own emotions hitting her like a freight train or just Akamaru barrelling into her arms, heavier than the last time she’s held him, but she buries her face in Kiba’s shoulder as he wraps his arms around her in a tight, warm hug. Akamaru wriggles up between them and licks Hinata’s face.

She’s missed them so much.

“Don’t just stand there, Shino,” Kiba’s voice rumbles under her cheek, the sound of his voice seeping into her bones.

She lifts her head to look at Shino, and he holds out his hand, fingers loosely curled.

Shino is an awkward hugger, for all his competence at almost everything else. But that’s okay - because she can see the relief in his stance, the gladness in the lines of his shoulders, the warmth in his hand as she meets him halfway with her own.

There’s a ring of kikaichuu circling her wrists again, weaving around the beads, marching across her pulse point. _You’ve been missed_.

“ _Okaerinasai_ ,” Kurenai says, cupping Hinata’s cheek with her hand, and Hinata smells gardenias as she leans into the touch.

Hinata takes a deep breath. “ _Tadaima_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N:  
>  _Ani-deshi_ : elder brother student/disciple, basically a senpai from the same teacher you study from.  
>  _Okaerinasai_ : welcome home.  
>  _Tadaima_ : I'm home (a greeting you would say to let someone know you've returned).
> 
> A/N: This chapter was a struggle to write because work has been sucking away all my energy and my cat got hospitalised. I'm still not that happy with it, but I'm ready to move on because Main Tournament begins next chapter. 
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Alternative chapter summary: Hinata returns to her heart-fam at last, because shit is going to go down soon.~~


	29. Ochikobore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I am not powerless.”

The morning of the Main Tournament, Naruto sits up in bed, still unsettled from what happened the day before at the hospital. The lack of sleep doesn’t help. He cradles his arm against his stomach. That Suna genin with the racoon eyes keeps getting into his head.

The darkness in that guy’s eyes. The absolute despair, the loneliness, the anger, the hatred.

It stirs something just as dark deep inside Naruto, something he constantly tries to ignore - has constantly tried to outrun all his life, desperately tried to stamp out before it takes over.

Annoying people, pranking people into yelling at him or laughing at him, it kept the darkness at bay. Any distraction was good, any interaction with another person kept him just a little further afloat of the darkness curled in his belly, waiting to pull him in.

It wasn’t until Iruka that he finally felt like he’d been pulled up out of its reach. And slowly, around Kakashi, around Sakura, around Sasuke, he finally felt like he could be safe from it.

Looking into the eyes of what he could have become terrifies him.

\---

Hinata has already had to report back at the compound after being released into a new mission, so she carefully avoids Neji when he heads out early the morning of the Main Tournament, ostensibly to fit in an early training session before the matches.

All off-duty shinobi are meant to be in civilian dress or forgo openly carrying their usual weapons during the tournament, so the visiting dignitaries are able to differentiate between those on duty and those who are not. Even if the village is still on high alert, they still need to keep up the appearance of hospitality.

Hinata quietly laments the loss of her weapons pouches. She chooses a loose shift dress again to wear over her shinobi pants to try and maximise the remaining pockets, pares down to a handful of shuriken and a pair of kunai together with the small scroll Sandaime entrusted to her. She wonders if Tenten would be willing to show her more about the seals she uses on her weapons scrolls.

Hinata checks for any protrusions in her clothes in the mirror. Adding more weapons will probably push it, so this will have to do.

She quietly leaves the compound and heads for one of the training fields where she promised to meet Kiba.

\---

She’s not an impulsive rookie anymore, but Yuugao doesn’t like this plan at all.

“Hokage-sama,” she says, mask in her hand. “Surely…”

He waves a hand vaguely to stay her protests, his back to her as he looks out the window of his office at the crowds and processions below. “The priority is clear.”

“How can you be so sure it will go according to your plans?” She argues.

There’s a faint, rueful expression in the lines of his face. “Then Konoha is already lost before the war has begun.”

\---

Hinata blinks when she sees Naruto at the training field.

He’s staring off into space, half sitting, half leaning against a tree stump. The logs in front of him are littered with kunai.

“...Naruto-kun?”

He jolts, whipping his head around to look at her. “...Hinata.”

“Are you...alright?” she asks hesitantly. It’s so strange to see Naruto so subdued.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” Naruto laughs, but it’s clearly forced.

\---

Naruto wonders if Hinata knows. If Kiba has told her about the monster that sleeps inside him.

He remembers when she offered to let him copy her answers for the first-stage exams. He wonders if she still would if she knew, or if she would look at him differently.

He wonders if Sakura would look at him differently, if Sasuke would look at him differently. He doesn’t think he could stand it.

“...Hey, Hinata,” he says quietly.

She looks at him with concern, waits for him to continue.

He starts to form the words. _What if I’m a monster?_

He chickens out, laughs awkwardly. “Hey, is Neji really that strong?”

\---

Hinata pretends not to notice the segue.

“He is,” she replies truthfully. He looks at her, still unsettled, but his gaze is no longer so far away.

The silence remains heavy, still, and she wonders if she has only upset him more.

“But…” she starts, stumbles a little. “So are you.”

The words are hard, especially in front of him, especially when he’s so different to his usual self.

His eyes are wide, and they’re so blue. Hinata would never admit it out loud, but she tried to copy the blueness of his eyes when she became Kouya.

“I don’t think strength is really about winning or losing,” Hinata says softly, digging her toes into her sandals, trying to redirect the urge to fidget under his gaze.

\---

Naruto doesn’t know if it’s because Hinata’s in a dress today, or if it’s because her jacket isn’t hiding the hitai-ate around her neck. “What does strength mean to you then?” he blurts out before he really thinks about it.

Hinata blinks at him. She stays quiet for a second, thinking it over.

“For me - strength is the will to survive. To keep going.” She stares down at her hands.

 _My existence will not disappear._ The sun is high and the air is warm, but Naruto still feels cold as he remembers the Suna genin’s words.

“But that’s - not the only kind of strength that exists,” she continues softly, haltingly. “Yours doesn’t need to be this.”

Naruto remembers lying in a grassy field, the air still damp with morning dew, and a pretty face, prettier than Sakura’s, hovering over him.

_Do you have people important to you?_

_A person is able to become truly strong when they are trying to protect something important to them._

A flock of birds scatter from the trees at the boundaries between training grounds, a cacophony of screeching at whatever disturbed them in the next training field over. Naruto suddenly hears the pulse of blood spluttering wetly onto stone, even though there’s only grass and dirt under his feet.

Haku and Zabuza had been so strong, but they still died.

“Do you think I’m strong enough?” Naruto asks, keeping his eyes on the ground because he doesn’t want to look at her and see her try to hide empty reassurances.

Hinata takes a few seconds to reply. “I think you’re stronger than you think you are.”

“But what if it’s not enough? I know I act strong, but I’m always screwing up and I’m not-” Naruto curls in on himself.

“Then...you do better next time.”

“But what if there isn’t a next time?” Naruto says, and it comes out harsher than he intends.

\---

Hinata thinks about her assignment, the scroll in her pocket. She drops the pretense that they are remotely talking about Neji at all.

“If there isn’t, then you will spend your last moments doing what’s most important to you.”

\---

Her utterly matter-of-fact reply reminds him of free falling, the spray of water that whips into his face on the way down, that moment of staring death in the face and nothing else mattering.

The ghosts go quiet and the shadows retreat. The spectre of Haku still lurks at the edges of his thoughts, the phantom of green eyes dark with bloodlust still lingers, but they’re no longer wrapped around his neck, seeping into every crevice.

There’s nothing remotely sugar coated or encouraging about Hinata’s words. And yet, he feels - not quite lighter - but centred. There’s no point crying and obsessing over the uncertain future before he even tries. Isn’t that what he told Inari when Inari said their resistance against Gatou was useless?

He lost sight of his own _nindou_ , to never give up and never go back on his words. Was it really so different from Hinata’s definition of strength? To keep going despite the odds.

“...Thanks, Hinata,” he feels himself grin at her.

\---

Heat spreads across her face against her will at the smile on Naruto’s face and she ducks her head.

“I didn’t - not at all,” Hinata mumbles, and the embarrassment of mixing up her sentences makes her blush even worse.

Someone approaches the edge of the field. “Ah- Kiba,” Naruto says.

Hinata breathes a sigh of relief as Kiba jogs up to them with Akamaru peeking out of his jacket collar. Kiba’s eyes flicker at her in a way that says he absolutely hasn’t missed the pink in Hinata’s face, but he says nothing, instead just squeezing her shoulder in greeting.

“Naruto, what the hell? You’re gonna be so late.”

Kiba points in the direction of the colourful, smoky plumes of daytime fireworks that are beginning to decorate the sky above the arena. “You know if you don’t get there in time for your own match, you’re automatically disqualified right?”

“Oh crap, I lost track of time-” Naruto jumps to his feet, hurriedly picking up his things off the ground. “Crap crap crap crap -”

“Naruto-kun,” Hinata remembers hurriedly just as Naruto zips up his pack. “When you fight Neji-niisan, try to prevent him from getting enough momentum -”

Naruto is already sprinting away, shouts his goodbyes as he waves frantically back at them, probably not even hearing half of what she has said.

Kiba pats her on the shoulder. “You’d need to draw him a diagram with crayons for him to understand with words. He’ll figure it out in the match.” Kiba smirks. “Neji won’t know what hit him.”

Kiba reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny cloth pouch. “Two Soldier Pills.”

Hinata receives them gratefully with both hands before tucking them away. “Thank you.”

“Once the exams are over, you and Shino had better tell me everything,” Kiba scowls a little, still peeved about being kept in the dark for weeks.

Hinata nods. “Promise.”

\---

Naruto barely makes it through the stadium gate as the crowds cheer and chant for the tournament to begin.

“What the hell kind of entrance is that,” Shikamaru gripes from above him, picking Naruto out of the dirt.

“Oi, pay attention,” says the examiner around the senbon in his mouth, his disinterested drawl so similar to Shikamaru’s that Naruto would bet his stash of free Ichiraku coupons that they had to be related somehow.

“You’re the stars of the show - let them see your faces.”

\---

It sets Neji’s teeth on edge when he spots Hiashi and Hanabi in one of the audience boxes reserved for important guests and clan heads as he scans the bleachers around the stadium. His grandfather, Hibiji, sits with them.

He’ll show them just what he’s capable of.

He is his father’s son.

The examiner, Genma, announces the contestants for the first match and tells the rest of them to get their asses moving to the fighters’ standby box.

“Same rules apply as the preliminaries - anything goes, but if I say a match is over, it is _over_ ,” Genma says. “Uzumaki Naruto. Hyuuga Neji. You may begin.”

\---

Like an absolute _idiot_ , Naruto charges at Neji head on, and Kiba kind of wants to grab Chouji’s already empty chip bag and throw it at Naruto’s head. Even Ino winces where she’s sitting between Sakura and Chouji.

Neji easily uses Naruto’s own momentum against him to throw him off balance. Naruto twists before he hits the ground, swinging his leg up at Neji’s face.

Neji leans back, dodging the kick with a smirk, and blocks every single punch Naruto can throw at him.

\---

Neji is toying with Naruto, and Hinata doesn’t expect anything less from her cousin.

She shakes her head. It won’t do to be distracted, and Hinata stops paying attention to the match, returning to the task at hand.

“What’s wrong?” Iwashi says through the short range radio.

“It’s nothing. Please proceed.”

Neji would realise his mistake soon enough.

\---

Neji remains infuriatingly calm in the face of Naruto’s incredible amount of Shadow Clones, easily dodging and neutralising the ones that come close enough to strike.

The bookish student inside Sakura is furiously trying to calculate just how much chakra Naruto could possibly have to keep creating so many clones. She grips the edge of her seat as she watches another pack of them charge at Neji, but Neji cuts right through the mass of clones in a blur of movement, striking the furthermost Naruto in the chest.

“The one that attacks the least in case his tenketsu gets blocked,” Neji sneers, as the other clones begin to disperse in puffs of smoke, one after the other. “It’s obvious you’re the real one.”

Sakura’s heart lurches as she watches Naruto cough up a spray of blood, slumping forward.

She hears Kiba growl from the other end of the bench, the sound low and feral, and she knows, somehow, that he’s reliving Hinata in Naruto’s place.

“The outcome of this match was clear from the beginning,” Neji says as he lowers his arm, “you can’t win.”

\---

“Such talent,” her grandfather says, his hands folded into his kimono sleeves. “Only to be born into the Branch.”

Hanabi is only seven, but she is more than old enough to recognise the jab for what it is. For the Main Family to produce not one, but two heirs whose natural abilities continued to be inferior to that of a child in the Branch -

Hibiji may no longer be Clan Head, having stepped down many years ago to make way for his eldest and only remaining son, but that did not stop him from expressing his disappointment with Hiashi’s leadership when he found Hiashi lacking.

Hanabi glances at her father from the corner of her eye, but Hiashi continues to remain inscrutable, as if her grandfather had never spoken at all.

Hanabi does not remember what her mother looks like, has only been told that her elder sister looks quite like her. Her mother’s photographs have been stored away after her death, and sometimes it’s like her mother never existed at all.

Hanabi has not seen her sister in a long time, their schedules almost never overlapping. She remembers peeking through the gap in the sliding door of the dojo when she was still a toddler, watching Hinata kneel to receive their father’s criticism, spine straight, eyes respectfully lowered, completely absent of emotion.

Hanabi does not quite remember what her mother looks like, but she has always thought to herself that Hinata resembles their father far more.

\---

“Stop...writing people off so easily,” Naruto smirks, blood at the corners of his mouth, before disappearing in a hiss of smoke.

Neji is taken aback for a split-second just as the remaining two Narutos leap at him from behind.

\---

Both Narutos go flying as Neji spins in place, a hazy dome of speed and chakra expanding outwards to repel everything coming at him.

This must be what Hinata had told him about.

Hakkeshou Kaiten - one of the pinnacles of the Hyuuga taijutsu. Capable of repelling almost any attack, a type of absolute defence.

The kikaichuu hum excitedly under Shino’s skin at the flares of chakra in the air.

 _If he can see the tenketsu, learning the Kaiten is simply a matter of time_.

The last Shadow Clone dissipates and only one Naruto remains.

\---

“Did you really think you had won?” Neji says as Naruto pushes himself off the ground.

Naruto’s chest throbs with phantom pain, the echoes of muscles collapsing.

“I think you're a dick,” Naruto replies, clutching his chest where Neji struck his Shadow Clone. “Is this what you did to Hinata?”

Neji's face darkens.

“What did she ever do to you?”

“That has nothing to do with you.” Neji’s voice is frosty.

\---

“Status?” Iwashi checks.

“Passageways A through C are secured and ready,” Hinata reports. “Passageways D through H are still not secured. Barrier teams are still getting into position.”

\---

He didn’t think it was possible, but Neji might even be more of an ass than Sasuke. For a second, Naruto really wants to just summon a giant toad to swat Neji like a fly.

_I want to fight you too._

No, he has to save that for Sasuke, or the Suna genin.

Of course, even if he wanted to, dodging Neji’s tenketsu blows doesn’t give him nearly enough time to summon the red chakra. It’s almost like fighting Kiba all over again, being outclassed in speed, in technique. Even training with the perverted toad sage, he didn’t manage to do it until the old man had kicked him down a waterfall.

Is he really going to lose here, to Neji?

 _I’ve got a favour to ask from the future Hokage then_.

He made a promise.

“It doesn’t need to involve me for me to know it’s messed up as hell,” Naruto snarls. “She’s your cousin!”

“...And?” Neji replies.

“What do you mean ‘ _and_ ’?”

“You seem to labouring under the delusion that because we have blood ties, we’re supposed to be some kind of happy family.”

Neji gets into stance. “Your naivete disgusts me.”

Naruto forms the seal for the Kage Bunshin. “At least I’m not the kind of scumbag that tries to kick people when they’re down.”

“A one trick pony,” Neji sneers.

\---

“I hate to say this, but Naruto is doomed.” Ino grimaces as Neji systematically decimates clone after clone after plowing through half of them with the Kaiten. “He’s just burning through chakra like this.”

Sakura doesn’t reply, and Ino turns to look at her. “Sakura?”

Sakura blinks. “What?”

Ino makes a face. “I know you’re worried about Sasuke-kun not making it to his match on time, but you should pay attention to Naruto’s match as well.”

\---

“That’s not -” Sakura starts to protest, and realises with a jolt that she hasn’t thought about Sasuke since the match started, her head full of numbers.

“...Naruto can be stupid, but I think he has a plan,” Sakura says.

She twists her fingers into the ends of her hair at the back of her neck.

 _One trick pony_.

She hopes he knows what he’s doing.

\---

Naruto pants, catching his breath as Neji hauls one of his clones up by the collar, and buries a fist into his stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Neji says as the clone disappears. “Is that all you’ve got?”

 _Not yet_. Naruto clutches at his belly. He’s not empty yet.

“You call me a one trick pony, but what about you?” Naruto retorts. “Spinning in circles all damn day.”

“You must have a terrible memory,” Neji gets low, arms extended in front and behind him, “or you just want this to be over quickly.”

A blur of movement, and Neji appears right in front of him, mouth twisted mockingly. “This is the difference between our abilities.”

\---

One hundred and twenty-six strikes to his tenketsu, and Naruto’s mind goes quiet.

 _Yes, this is the feeling_.

\---

It’s like watching Hinata’s match all over again, and Kiba’s nails have turned into claws, leaving indents in the bench.

\---

It’s one thing, for Hinata - a Hyuuga that had to learn about the chakra network, and capable of the Shunshin - to be able to manipulate just which tenketsu would be struck even if she couldn’t evade them entirely.

Naruto, however, with his unremarkable speed and even more unremarkable taijutsu, is a different story.

He watches Naruto struggle to move. “You won’t be able to get up anymore. Mortifying, isn’t it?”

This is how it was going to end all along.

“Being brought to your knees by a force stronger than you’ll ever be, finding out how powerless you are.”

\---

Naruto’s body feels like lead, but his mind is clearer, lighter than ever.

He’s felt heavier than this more times than he can count.

Getting out of bed, even when he could have died in it and no one would have cared.

Getting up off the ground, even when there was no one but himself to clean the scrapes when he got pushed into the dirt.

He’s been pushing himself upright his entire life.

This is _nothing_.

Naruto laughs, loud and ragged.

“Are you talking about yourself?” He rasps.

\---

The fury on Neji’s face is a sight to behold, and Hanabi feels herself holding her breath as Naruto gets to his feet, even as he shakes violently from the effort.

\---

“I am not powerless.”

He can hear the sound of water dripping.

So close now.

 _I’ve got a favour to ask from the future Hokage then_.

“I am going to become Hokage.”

 _There it is_.

\---

The air moves, the ripple before the storm, and Kiba smells it immediately.

\---

The flare of chakra almost blinds him, and Neji brings his arms up in front of him as the force of it sends debris flying.

_Impossible, how can he possibly -!_

Chakra whips around Naruto like lashing tails, like he’s being enveloped in fire.

Neji’s eyes water as he stares into the eye of the storm. His skin crawls as something stares back at him with pure malice.

Then Naruto disappears, too fast for him to follow. He starts a Kaiten as the blaze of chakra reappears, throwing off the shuriken headed his way.

Naruto charges at him with a kunai in his hand. Neji’s muscles strain as he meets Naruto’s kunai with his own, the force of the clash sending them both skidding backwards.

Naruto doesn’t stop, charging forward as he closes the distance, the ground giving way under his feet, the shroud of chakra expanding with every step.

Naruto grins. “You’re confident in close combat, right?”

 _This is bad -!_ Neji thinks as he concentrates all his remaining chakra into his Kaiten -

\---

The explosion of chakra reverberates through almost half the stadium.

“Hey, which one is Naruto?” Sakura says almost breathless, her fingers digging into Ino’s arm.

“How the hell would I know?” Ino replies.

Not a single one of them can look away.

\---

Genma coughs, tasting the dirt still floating in air.

 _I hate this job_. He has to squint to see the two ditches where both genin landed in the aftermath. He wonders if he’ll need to announce a double knock-out.

Someone moves, and Genma swats at the haze of dust settling in the dying wind.

Hyuuga Neji stumbles to his feet, swaying slightly.

\---

Drained.

Neji hasn’t felt this drained before. He doesn’t even have chakra left to activate the Byakugan.

Still, he staggers forward, sees the dirt-stained orange of Naruto’s jumpsuit.

Naruto doesn’t even twitch.

Something settles in Neji’s chest, like something sliding back into place, familiar.

“This is how it was always going to end,” Neji pants. “You were never going to -”

The sound of something scrabbling in the ground makes him freeze.

All Neji sees as he looks down is orange as Naruto drives his fist into his chin, and sends him flying.

\---

It’s not the first time Neji’s tasted blood in his mouth, but it’s the first time he’s tasted blood in a fight, instead of biting into the flesh of his mouth or tongue in the throes of being punished by the Juin.

Naruto stands over him, but he doesn’t crow or shout with glee or triumph.

The sky is blue above him, and only makes Naruto’s jumpsuit even more orange.

He hears the pop of air as the Naruto’s clone disappears from the ditch, and a faint, slow drip.

He looks down to see the blood trickling from Naruto’s ruined nail beds.

Neji’s jaw hurts. “A Kage Bunshin even after all that...I was careless.”

\---

“I don’t know,” Naruto says, breathing heavily, “what is up with your clan and your dad, this Branch subjugation stuff.”

The blood stops dripping from Naruto’s fingers, already starting to scab over.

“You said that Hinata’s freedom was paid for by your father’s blood.”

Neji goes still.

“I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but you want justice for your father, right?”

Neji’s fingers dig into the dirt.

“Then stop being stupid.”

Neji stares at him like he’s grown a second head, and Naruto can already hear Sasuke and Sakura telling him that he of all people shouldn’t be calling anyone stupid.

“You’re supposed to be a genius, but you were too busy showing off. Trying to show them how strong you are. How much better you are with your fancy Byakugan moves.”

_There were times I did better than Sasuke and Sakura-chan!_

_That’s because you happen to have more stamina than other people!_

\---

“You can see out the back of your head, but you couldn’t see that I was trying to waste all your damn chakra.”

Neji gapes at him.

“People keep telling me my chakra control sucks, and they’re probably right. If you hadn’t shut off my tenketsu, it would’ve been way harder trying to pull out all that chakra.”

Neji’s not even standing up, but it’s like the world tilts under his feet.

“You lost to a one trick pony like me because you were too busy spinning in place instead of looking ahead.”

\---

Genma declares the first match to Uzumaki Naruto.

The crowd goes wild.

No one cheers louder for Naruto’s victory than Sakura and Kiba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N: Ochikobore - literal translation is to spill, to fall short, to leave something/fall behind, and basically is someone who can't keep up. The closest English equivalent for simple accuracy/base meaning is probably dunce but most subs like to use dropout for the more negative/mocking inflection (and it probably translates better to speech). But the Japanese word is just so much _more_ , and that's why I refuse to watch dubs lol.
> 
> Also the repetition of one trick pony is the reverse translation of baka-no-hitotsu-oboe: lit. an idiot that only remembers one thing.
> 
> This is what the Oto-nin call Sakura in her rare canon moments of cool in the Forest of Death (until Kishi ruined it three seconds later by making her bite Zaku like a pitbull and not let go even though there are still two other Oto-nin that haven't been neutralised wtf and she has to be rescued anyway). And because Naruto constantly spams Kage Bunshin to death, someone probably will have called him this at some point.
> 
> However, working baka-no-hitotsu-oboe into coherent sentences was too hard so I stuck with the English equivalent for once.
> 
> A/N: The pattern of Naruto's fight against Neji obviously has to change a fair bit since I am not going for the genius vs dropout theme. And Naruto is not completely devoid of a brain, and Kishi has had Naruto pull out really unexpected strategies in canon (though probably just for moment of cool rather than out of real consistency). Part I Naruto is best Naruto.
> 
> Also exploring the impact of Haku and Gaara on Naruto's psyche. Well, trying to anyway.
> 
> In case you were like wait, when did Naruto interact with Gaara, this follows the canon scene where Naruto wakes up after three days of unconsciousness from summoning Gamabunta, and Shikamaru and Naruto confront Gaara trying to kill Lee in the hospital while Lee is still unconscious. Gaara tells them about his dysfunction and Naruto begins to doubt himself.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~...Will I even finish this fic before I die of old age? How did I even get here? What am I even doing anymore?~~


	30. Dark Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...But changing careers is even more of a drag.

Hinata examines the blueprints she was given.

 _This...isn’t right_.

There are more passages underground than recorded.

_...Why?_

Something rumbles in the distance, and Hinata refocuses her Byakugan.

\---

Neji gets carried away on a stretcher, and Genma watches the realisation dawn on Naruto’s face that the roar of the crowd is _for_ him.

The smile that spreads across his face is brilliant.

\---

 _Well-fought_ , Hiruzen thinks fondly, as he watches Naruto leave the arena, making his way back to the standby box. The boy may look just like Minato, but his smile is all Kushina.

Raido leans down from behind him. “Hokage-sama, we still have not been able to locate Uchiha Sasuke.”

\---

Suddenly, Shikamaru feels like the only normal in a room full of freaks.

“Aw man, now I’m the only one left in the uncool group,” Shikamaru complains.

Shino tilts his head slightly. “...Uncool group?”

“Naruto and me, we were the ones no one really expected anything of,” Shikamaru sinks into a crouch, sighing heavily. “Now he’s gone over to the other side, ugh.”

The cheers keep going as Naruto makes his way back to the stairs. Shino pulls his hands back from where they were gripped on the railing, and slides them back into his pockets.

“I am absolutely expecting something of you,” Shino says. “That is because you have made it this far, as one of the Rookie 9 and Team 10.”

Shikamaru stares at Shino. “...Okay, I was being rhetorical.”

Shino doesn’t really do anything, but there’s a stiffness to his shoulders now. _Geez, now he’s probably offended or embarrassed. Everything is so damn troublesome_.

Shikamaru rubs the back of his neck. “Um...thanks?”

“...You’re welcome.”

\---

As rousing as the first match was, it’s still not enough to distract the audience long enough to notice that the second match still hasn’t started.

Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Gaara.

The only survivor of the Uchiha massacre competing against the youngest child of the Yondaime Kazekage.

The stadium has never been more packed.

Sakura’s head isn’t full of math anymore, and she can’t see Kakashi in the crowds at all. The Sasuke she knows would have dragged himself here on his hands and knees if he had to.

\---

“Passages F and H secured and clear,” Hinata checks in, and doesn’t fight the smile on her face because there’s no one to see it.

Naruto had won his match.

“Copy that,” Iwashi responds through a crackle of the radio.

The unidentified tunnels continue to niggle at her thoughts, still. The tunnels are built incredibly deep, and they extend even deeper than her scouting range, even when she stretches her Byakugan in one direction only. From the condition of the tunnels, they are not new structures at all, and there are signs of maintenance.

Was it simply a need-to-know omission?

\---

When Raido Shunshins down to him to let him know what Sandaime has decided, Genma is not terribly surprised.

Strictly speaking, the Uchiha kid should have been disqualified ten minutes ago. However, pleasing the Daimyo and other potential clients vastly outweighed the value of punctuality in this particular battle, and the audience wanted their show.

“Alright,” he says to Raido as Raido returns to his post by the Hokage, and Hayate looks up at the audience to announce the change of programme to the disgruntled spectators.

“One of the contestants has not yet arrived, so this match will be delayed,” Hayate projects his voice over the din. “We will move the next match forward.”

There’s some particularly loud and rude protests in the crowd, and Genma really really wants to go and graffiti Hayate’s fake grave right now. This day is looking too damned long.

“For our next match - Aburame Shino and Kankurou.”

\---

Shino gets ready to descend, when Kankurou forfeits without warning. The crowd immediately starts to demonstrate their displeasure again.

 _Oto colluding with Suna_.

Shino glances at the Suna-nin, where Kankurou and Temari are whispering and looking a little agitated. Gaara maintains his flat, emotionless stare at the empty arena but Shino doesn’t expect otherwise from a genin who doesn’t sleep and is fully capable of liquefying his opponents with his sand.

Something is not going to plan for the other two though. They had been fine during the first match, if reluctantly impressed by Naruto’s unexpected win. If Kankurou had been somehow intimidated by Shino, then he would have forfeited earlier than this and not turned up at all.

The only obvious reason for the sudden change in their demeanor is Uchiha Sasuke and his absence.

\---

Temari scowls at the increasing volume of the angry crowds, and leaps from the standby box, whipping open her fan with a flourish, riding the giant tessen down into the arena. She tells herself she’s more annoyed with the entitled vitriol coming from the stands than the fact that she needs to participate in a war instigated by Suna.

Her father has always been ruled by absolute pragmaticism, and she trusts him as a Kage if not a father. But to choose war - she’s old enough to remember the last war, as the eldest of the three Sand Siblings. She had been very young then, but not young enough to forget the devastation of it.

She drives the end of her iron fan into the dirt. She’s itching to vent her frustration, and crushing the Konoha-nin with the idiotic face might just take the edge off.

\---

If he hadn’t slowed his descent at the last minute with chakra, he would be feeling the impact in his head. Fucking Naruto literally pushed him over the railing, and Shikamaru is going to kill Naruto _dead_ the next chance he gets.

An empty soda can smacks his forehead as he lays there on the dirt, staring balefully at the sky.

If he can be bothered.

\---

Temari didn’t make it to the finals as the only remaining kunoichi to fight the most unmotivated loser, and quickly loses patience as the spectators start throwing trash into the arena at the Konoha-nin.

“If you’re not going to attack, I will!” she snarls as she charges forward, pulling her arm back to slam her fan down onto his annoying face.

She can feel her tessen sinking into the ground instead of flesh, and looks up to see the _ahou-zura_ perched on two kunai buried high into the wall.

 _He’s good at evading_ , she thinks to herself.

“Y’know, I really don’t give a damn if I become Chuunin or not,” the guy drawls in an annoying way to match his face. “But I really don’t want to lose to a g-”

Temari already has her fan open before he can finish that sentence, driving a sharp gale of wind at him, sharp and cutting in multiple directions.

The Konoha-nin manages to dodge the blast, and disappears into a cluster of trees.

\---

“What is he even doing?” Sakura asks when Shikamaru just...crouches and stares into space.

Chouji and Kiba shrug in unison. “That’s just Shikamaru.”

“I’m surprised he even came this far,” Kiba says. “I thought he’d just give up.”

Chouji nods in agreement, already into his sixth bag of chips. “He still might.”

Ino looks indignant on Shikamaru’s behalf. “What do you mean? He practically jumped into the ring just now. He’s totally motivated.”

Kiba and Chouji exchange glances and then both look at her like she’s gone mad.

“Naruto literally pushed him off a balcony,” Kiba says incredulously. “He practically landed on his head.”

\---

 _Ahh, what a drag_.

His skin prickles with the thousands of shallow cuts from her chakra-infused Kamaitachi. They’re too shallow to draw blood, but like paper cuts, they all sting.

His opponent draws a literal line in the sand with her tessen, marking where his first Kagemane no Jutsu failed to reach. She’s not stupid, and has probably already figured out the limits to his Kagemane.

Suddenly being a shinobi seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

...But changing careers is even more of a drag.

\---

The betting stub has been burning a hole in his pocket for over a month, and Asuma is more than relieved when Shikamaru gets down and forms the shape of a circle with his fingers, his fingertips and thumb resting against its counterpart in his other hand.

His student is _finally_ taking the match seriously, and he’s going to get a sweet, sweet payout.

\---

Temari watches her opponent form a strange seal she’s never seen before, but nothing happens. Then he drops the seal and reaches behind him for a single kunai.

Pathetic, but at least he seems marginally more motivated than before.

“Fuuton: Kamaitachi!” She blasts another attack into the cluster of trees he runs into, gouging large cuts into the trunks and thinning the leaves.

She misses the vast and relative flatness of the desert. This place is so humid, and the air feels almost disgusting on her slightly sweaty skin. Even the idiot-faced Konoha-nin starts taking his own vest off.

She keeps her foot firmly behind the line to remind herself not to succumb to her annoyance and be tempted into crossing it. She swings again, blasts gale after gale of cutting wind to try and drive him out.

The repeated whipping of air across the arena also picks up every particle of loosened dirt on the ground, creating a dust storm. She’s not worried. She’s a child of the desert, after all.

Sandstorms wait for no one.

Sweat trickles down the back of her neck when kunai come flying at her through the haze, and she easily moves out of the way, deflecting more kunai with her tessen easily. Clearly this guy wasn’t paying attention in the preliminaries.

She keeps her eyes on the ground - _there_.

She smirks behind the boundary line as his shadow races towards her, until she realises with horror that it’s not slowing down.

\---

Sakura watches Temari leap backwards, escaping the shadow’s reach once again.

Temari’s calculating the change in the shadow’s range, and so is Sakura.

Shikamaru dragging his feet and hiding in the trees for ages was a ploy to buy time. The angle of the sun, the lengthened shadows cast by the stadium walls.

The air is moving slower now that Temari isn’t stirring it continuously, and Sakura spots something floating across the arena.

The puppeteer Suna-nin shouts Temari’s name.

\---

Temari looks up at her brother’s voice, and squints at the dark shape bobbing languidly along the northwest airspace of the arena.

_Shit!_

She jumps backwards again, dropping her gaze immediately to the ground, trying to stay ahead of the shadow lengthening once more by the makeshift parachute of the Konoha-nin’s vest, tied to his kunai as a stabilising weight.

The parachute’s shadow grows as gravity pulls the kunai towards the earth, and she swerves sharply. She can’t move closer to the walls, because he can borrow the shadows along the edges, so she can only move closer to the centre of the arena.

The parachute lands, and tumbles over itself, and the new surface area to be gained reaches its limit.

She pants slightly, having expended more chakra than she had originally thought she would. There’s a thrill in her blood. She’s not quite ready to call him a worthy opponent, but this guy is pretty good.

She recalculates his new range, and gauges the position of the sun. Letting him drag this on will only increase his territory.

She needs to attack quickly and decisively to win this. She opens her fan and drives the wide, open edge into the dirt, and takes cover behind it. For now, she’s safe behind it as long as she doesn’t let the sun set further before striking.

 _Bunshin no Jutsu should do it_. While he is distracted by her clone and grabs its shadow instead, she can strike him from above and win.

She quickly forms the Ram, Snake and Tiger seals with her hands.

“Bunshin no Ju-”

She’s frozen in place.

\---

“Kagemane no Jutsu, _finally_ successful,” Shikamaru says with a sigh, releasing his hands from the Rat seal he’s been holding.

Temari looks shocked and almost livid, half her face hidden behind the guard of the iron fan. Shikamaru decides to put her out of her misery.

“Let me show you,” Shikamaru says, moving forward two steps before turning his head so Temari can look behind her.

The open hole that Naruto dug in the previous match, directly connected to the one just beyond her tessen, definitely within his shadow’s reach.

The snarl of outrage tells him that Temari finally put all the pieces together.

He turns to the front again, his mind doing the math.

\---

Asuma is absolutely proud of his lazy, unmotivated genius. And not even just because of the jackpot awaiting him after these Exams.

Kurenai is gaping from her seat next to him, and Asuma resists the urge to brag. He can do that later.

Right now, he just wants to see how Shikamaru is going to win.

This match is nothing like Naruto’s, but it doesn’t stop them from being on the edge of their seats.

Then, slowly, Shikamaru raises his arm.

\---

“I just want you to know, this is not about you,” Shikamaru says to Temari, before he cranes his neck to look up at the stands. Her head tilts at the same angle, because she has no choice.

\---

Shikamaru looks right at Asuma, and folds three fingers and one thumb down with a very pointed, slow nod. _Forty percent_.

Kurenai brings her hand to her mouth and snickers into her knuckles.

The cigarette almost falls out of Asuma’s mouth. The little shit _knew_.

\---

Raido snorts quietly as well from his post behind Sandaime, recognising the hand signs that Asuma and Kurenai often used back in their genin days.

\---

Shikamaru smirks just ever so slightly as he turns his attention back to Temari. “I’d apologise for this because you shouldn’t hit women, but this doesn’t really count.”

Temari’s eyes widen as Shikamaru throws his head forward into empty space and Temari smacks her head on the metal rivet of her own fan right in front of her.

Temari slides to the ground, unconscious, and Shikamaru releases the Kagemane.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N: Ahou-zura is pretty literally idiot-face.
> 
> A/N: So like 40k words ago (oh god), when I was rewatching Part I of Naruto for inspiration, I watched this match over and over and then I realised that actually GIANT PLOT HOLE (or giant battle logic hole to be more precise).
> 
> If you rewatch/reread the moment Temari is revealed to have been caught by the Kagemane/Shadow Imitation (yeah, I even looked up the manga chapter to double check), she is directly behind her fan and Shikamaru is also directly in front of her all the way in the shadows of the stadium wall. This means, by Kagemane technique logic, all Shikamaru literally had to do to win was headbutt the air and she would knock herself out, a perfect parallel to his fight with Kin in the preliminaries. For Shikamaru to walk them both towards each other so they could stand a few feet apart and give up dramatically meant that he would have literally needed to take at least a few steps to the right or left and then walk ahead.
> 
> Of course, this is also a character establishing moment to show how cool Shikamaru is and it is still clever that he became Chuunin without actually winning his tournament. HOWEVER, canon still exists, ~~this fic is still self-indulgent~~ , and I can no longer unsee the logic fail, so here it is. Shikamaru wins via headbutt and starts earning a reputation for causing very literal headaches to women. And also because he is getting a sweet sweet cut of Asuma's betting money, because why train so hard for no reason?


	31. Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba may not particularly like Sasuke, because he’s a bit of an arrogant jerk, but he doesn’t exactly want Sasuke to be turned into mincemeat either.

Uchiha Sasuke is still absent.

Temari is unconscious.

He’s not terribly worried about any real damage to his sister’s head, but it would be awfully suspicious for him to try and stop the medics from taking her away to the medic station now that her match was over. Kankurou could leave the standby box and follow Temari, but what if they get the signal?

And Gaara has been showing signs of being more unhinged than usual for several days now.

Gods, everything has been going off-script.

He’s seriously considering just grabbing Temari and making a run for it because this is _bullshit_. But he’s a Suna-nin, the son of a Kazekage, and he can’t just abandon his little brother to be swarmed alone, as terrifying and fucked up as Gaara is.

\---

Genma wonders just how much trouble he’d get into this time if he fired some senbon strategically into the crowd so they’ll just _shut the hell up_ about the match they’re all really here for.

He represses the urge - for now. The last time he casually attempted to murder someone outside of mission parameters, he had been forced to do D-rank missions within the village for a month in addition to docked pay. Sandaime is good at coming up with suitably menial and/or punishments for the higher-tier shinobi - and if Sandaime ever runs out of ideas, as Head Jounin, Nara Shikaku usually has several backups that are far, far worse.

He chews around his senbon again, scowling at his pocket watch.

 _Ten more minutes_ , Raido had told him to wait, _per Sandaime’s instructions_.

\---

Shikamaru returns to the standby platform and groans like an old man when he bends backwards in a slow stretch, burgeoning muscle definition shifting under his mesh shirt. He hisses in relief when something pops in his spine with the stretch.

Naruto kind of gapes at him, staring at him like he barely knows who Shikamaru is anymore. “When the heck were you ever that smart?” Naruto says indignantly. “Your grades weren’t even that much better than mine!”

Shikamaru side-eyes Naruto. “Y’know, I really want to punch you for shoving me off the railing, but that’s just too much effort right now.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Naruto retorts, rolling his eyes at the familiar tone of Shikamaru complaining. “You were fine, weren’t you?”

Shikamaru is briefly tempted to make good on the part about punching Naruto, but settles for elbowing him instead.

“Where’s your damn teammate, anyway?”

“He’s coming, just you wait.”

\---

“Passages D, E, and G secured and clear,” Hinata reports. “Evacuation routes are ready.”

“Good work,” Iwashi responds through the radio. “Then, as planned, please proceed to the observation point.”

Hinata wonders for a brief moment if she should mention the tunnels that aren’t on the blueprint.

_This mission is your first priority. Don’t get distracted._

“...Moving to the observation point now,” she replies. She folds the blueprints and returns them to her pocket, and starts making her way to the Hokage Rock lookout.

The Sandaime had given the blueprints to her personally. She was still a genin, it was more than likely that he didn’t want to her to be distracted with the full blueprints.

It must be.

\---

Genma opens his mouth to announce Uchiha Sasuke’s disqualification, when he feels the air pick up.

“I swear to the gods, it’s like the Sharingan comes bundled with chronic tardiness,” Genma mutters under his breath loudly enough for Kakashi to hear it.

The tight, sudden swirl of leaves then breaks apart just as quickly, and Kakashi emerges from a Shunshin, the Uchiha kid at his side.

“Sorry, sorry,” Kakashi says with a sheepish look from the visible part of his face. “We’re still in time, right? ...He didn’t get disqualified, did he?”

Genma rolls his eyes. “I was looking forward to,” _babysitting less brats when this place turns into a battlefield_ , “finishing early. You’re lucky they postponed his match.”

Kakashi laughs with nervous relief. “Thank goodness.”

Genma turns his gaze towards the Uchiha. “Say your name for the crowd, kid, so we can finally get started.”

“...Uchiha. Sasuke.”

\---

The tension drains from Sakura’s body as Sasuke announces himself to the stadium. He made it.

“So damn flashy,” she hears Kiba snark at Sasuke and Kakashi’s dramatic entrance. “Chouji, put the trash in your bag as you go, not on the floor, damn it.”

Sasuke’s hair has gotten longer, his bangs past his chin. He looks different, carries himself a little differently to before, and Sakura wonders just how much stronger he’s gotten.

She can hear Ino squealing besides her, and she half wants to do the same.

She wonders if he’s been able to keep that horrible seal at the back of his neck under control. Kakashi had reassured her when he returned during the preliminaries that it had been taken care of.

\---

Sasuke looks up at the standby platform, looking for a familiar spiky-blond head.

Naruto grins triumphantly down at him, his eyes tiny points of blue in a visual throat-punch of orange, and waves a victory sign at him.

Naruto had won his match. They would be fighting each other in the next round once Sasuke wins his own match.

Something tingles in his fingers, and it feels like anticipation.

He barely pays attention to Kakashi leaving, his teacher flickering away from the arena in another swirl of leaves as Gaara arrives at the bottom of the stairs.

\---

He looks around the spectator stands as he makes his way towards where his pink-haired student is sitting with a group of her yearmates.

Eight ANBU stationed in the stadium. Only two squads.

That is hardly enough. Kakashi looks up towards the box where both Kage are seated.

Only Raido is standing directly behind Sandaime, the Hokage’s personal squad of ANBU not visible but likely nearby.

He doesn’t expect the Sandaime to have a full entourage considering they still had to make a show of trust as the host hidden village for the Chuunin Exams. Even the Kazekage’s visible bodyguards are pared down to the two that flank him at his seat.

But there’s a world of difference between a full entourage and the current sparseness of ANBU coverage. What was Sandaime thinking?

“Kakashi-sensei,” Kiba interrupts his thoughts, looking serious. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

\---

Tokara brandishes his staff at Hayate with a deeply unimpressed look on his face as he waits for his Barrier Team comrades to get into position. “I see you’ve stopped playing dead.”

The streets are quiet for the time of day, most off-duty shinobi and all the visitors concentrated at the stadium. There are mostly civilians left on the streets, and they barely glance at Tokara or Hayate as they move past.

Hayate smiles slightly. “Rumours of my death, etcetera etcetera, very greatly exaggerated.”

“At least Ibiki had the decency to pass on the message.”

Hayate’s chuckle turns into a cough. “You were probably too busy to attend my funeral anyway.”

Tokara smacks Hayate lightly in the stomach with the looped end of his staff. “The Barrier Teams are the most understaffed section in Konoha. Ibiki is always complaining about needing more people, but he can share people with the Intelligence Division if he needs to.”

“True, but are you telling me that your hatred of crowds had no bearing on your decision?” Hayate teases.

Tokara’s glare is betrayed by the twitch at the corner of his mouth. “I don’t need to weep loudly in public to mourn my own genin teammate.”

“Truly, I am touched.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you bragging about your popularity,” Tokara says just as his skin begins to glow, diffused light spreading under the bandages that extend all the way down his arms, wrists, and into his gloves. “Barrier Teams are ready to go.”

\---

“Sasuke will be fine,” Kakashi says easily and Kiba makes a face in response, not convinced.

The match between Sasuke and Gaara has already begun, but it’s not too late to put a stop to things. Kiba may not particularly like Sasuke, because he’s a bit of an arrogant jerk, but he doesn’t exactly want Sasuke to be turned into mincemeat either.

“He crushed a team of Amegakure-nin to a liquidy pulp,” Kiba says bluntly. “I’m just sayin’, maybe he should forfeit. His chakra is -”

Kiba almost says ‘evil’ but that would imply that something so ancient and primordial was subject to such _human_ concepts of good and evil. Just like how a force of nature simply _is_ , so would any kind of consciousness tied to that kind of chakra.

“-feral,” Kiba finishes. “It’s kind of like Naruto’s when his tenketsu got blocked, except Naruto doesn’t try to kill people on a whim.”

\---

Sasuke’s incredible taijutsu speed quickly impresses the crowds, easily on par with Rock Lee’s in the preliminaries.

Gaara’s automatic sand defense can barely keep up, and Sasuke manages to land a punch within minutes, cracking the sand armour covering the Suna-nin’s face.

 _Even so, speed and taijutsu alone cannot defeat someone like that_ , Shino thinks to himself. Lee had been incredibly lucky to get out alive, even though his injuries had truly harrowing consequences for a shinobi.

It’s clear that Kakashi has spent most of the last month focussing on Sasuke’s physical conditioning. The angles of his yearmate’s limbs, the way he moves himself as he diverts the sand defense away from Gaara before bursting forward in a blur of movement - it’s identical to Lee’s. Sasuke may have missed all the preliminary matches beyond his own, but Kakashi had definitely been present at the match between Lee and Gaara.

There was no doubt that Kakashi had been observing Lee’s taijutsu movements through his own Sharingan. And unlike Rock Lee, Uchiha Sasuke was not confined to the limits of taijutsu only.

The potential of the Sharingan is indeed impressive.

However, Hinata has already shown them just what the Suna-nin had done to Dosu from Otogakure in the dead of night those weeks ago.

No matter how talented Uchiha Sasuke is, he cannot defeat someone like that.

\---

 _Mother_ is angry.

Sometimes, the lines are blurred between killing to feel alive, and killing to _feed_ \- to feed _Mother_ ’s appetite for blood and flesh and terror.

The result is the same, but _Mother_ prefers the blood of the worthy. Gaara is less picky.

Uchiha Sasuke will be worthy prey, and _Mother_ will be pleased.

Today, they are one.

Together, they will drink the blood of their quarry, and those that get in their way.

\---

Logically, Kabuto understands why Orochimaru desires the Sharingan and consequently the physical body of an Uchiha. To be able to copy any technique is admittedly nothing to sneeze at, but for a man who can theoretically live forever, learning every technique that may exist is a problem that can be solved by time, of which Orochimaru has plenty - if he doesn’t do anything foolish.

Sticking their necks out like this, pretending to ally themselves with Suna - this is foolish.

However, Orochimaru has always been driven by more than the mere thirst for knowledge - power, revenge, spite. Sometimes even boredom.

Despite Orochimaru’s capacity for truly inhuman feats, like turning people into meatsuits for his immortality and his frequent impressions of a rokurokubi when he uses his snake techniques - privately, Kabuto is disappointed by how _human_ Orochimaru is.

Still a slave to his own wrath and jealousies and arrogance.

He observes the stadium from behind his stolen ANBU mask - there’s barely a double handful of ANBU stationed. Instead, there are a larger than usual number of jounin and tokujo among the spectators.

It’s not necessarily strange, considering the contestants for the final stage of the Chuunin Exams, however, he didn’t make it this far as one of Orochimaru’s right-hand man by ignoring details.

\---

He’s almost sure there’s a hairline fracture in his right hand from trying to land a punch before the Suna-nin encases himself completely in sand. Spikes protrude from the giant globe-like shield of sand, and he can feel blood trickling down his cheek and his leg.

Kakashi hadn’t mentioned this.

Sasuke immediately leaps backwards, and a tendril of sand detaches itself from the sphere holding the Suna-nin, swirling and condensing to form the shape of an eyeball.

It’s simultaneously disturbing and impressive. An absolute defense, without even the loss of sight.

He really doesn’t want to use the new technique Kakashi just taught him, not in a first-round match. He’d rather save it for his match with Naruto, and see the shock on the _usuratonkachi_ ’s face when he realises Sasuke has learnt their teacher’s only original technique.

He tries another high-speed gouken manoeuvre, trying to test the density of sand sphere at different places.

There are no weak or thinner spots, but the sand isn’t nearly fast enough to get close to catching him without compromising the density of the shield.

... _Tsk_ , he thinks to himself in annoyance, and moves to unsnap the black bands wrapped around his left arm. He’ll have to use the new technique after all.

He moves backwards and away from the centre of the arena, concentrating chakra to his feet to scale the arena wall easily. He takes a deep breath, and starts forming seals.

\---

“He’ll be fine,” Kakashi says again, just something begins to crackle and screech.

Kiba turns to watch the chakra in Sasuke’s hand rapidly become visible to the naked eye, throwing the sharp scent of ozone into the air.

 _...Okay, that is pretty cool_.

Though Kiba would absolutely never say it to Sasuke’s face.

This doesn’t mean Sasuke will win though. But maybe, just maybe, he’ll survive with minimal intervention.

The growing fistful of lightning in Sasuke’s palm makes him think of the chakra shrouds Hinata showed him and Shino yesterday - and he wonders.

\---

Sasuke charges at the Suna-nin head-on, his speed enhanced by the lightning chakra as he braces his left shoulder with his right hand. He punches right through the sphere of sand, elbow deep, and feels something give way to his Chidori.

Flesh.

His left arm feels raw, flayed, his control over the compression of the Chidori not quite the same as Kakashi’s.

There’s something wet and warm under his fingers.

\---

Drip.

_What..is this warm thing?_

It feels...wrong.

_Mother?_

He doesn’t recognise this feeling, but it’s wrong, and it’s radiating from his shoulder, like a pulse.

It isn’t until the metallic stench reaches his nose that he understands.

“Blood-”

“ _MY BLOOD-_ ”

\---

Something massive clamps down on his left arm and Sasuke lets out a cry of pain.

 _What the hell?!_ He tries to pull his hand out, his blood pulsing in his ears.

Instinctively he forces chakra into his palm again, and grits his teeth, hard. Two Chidori within the same five minutes is a new level of agony in itself. The skin on his palm, and his fingers, starts to throb and split under the new burst of lightning from his hand.

There’s another muffled scream from the Suna-nin, and finally he gets enough slack to throw himself backwards. Something follows him out of the sand sphere, like a giant claw, and the glow of chakra he spies with the Sharingan is being blinded with the glare of the afternoon sun.

Genma appears in front of him, blocking Gaara from his vision, and it takes a second for Sasuke to catch on.

\---

Kiba catches a falling feather in his hand and frowns.

His nose itches as all the excitement and agitation he’s been smelling all day from the spectators is suddenly gone. Akamaru growls a warning.

 _Genjutsu_.

\---

 _Shit, that’s the signal_.

Kankurou leaps over the railing, half aware of Baki joining the fray as Gaara’s - _Shukaku’s_ \- arm slowly crumbles before it can recapture Sasuke. The sand sphere is crumbling too, and Kankurou is feeling an absurd amount of relief considering this was absolutely not part of the plan in a war they all but started.

The relief is short-lived. Suna may have better individual shinobi, but they are so absolutely, severely outnumbered in Konoha without Gaara’s particular skillset.

\---

The Konoha jounin with the blood-red eyes disintegrates into a burst of flower petals.

“Over here,” she taunts him from behind, and he spins around, slashing across with his kunai. She slumps and falls to the ground, her hair like a dark halo on the ground.

“No, here,” her voice comes from his left, and he doesn’t give himself time to pause as he sinks the kunai deep between her ribs. Her blood is warm and wet, seeping over his fingers. This sensation feels too real to be genjutsu.

“What are you looking at?” she says from behind him again, and he curses.

He grits his teeth, bringing his hands up in a seal, but the glint of her kunai as she descends disrupts his attempt to dispel the genjutsu.

She strikes him with her elbow, and kicks him into the air, spinning around to strike again with her other foot. He tries to counter, but she fades into a bloody red mist before he can so much as brush against her with his kunai.

“Such a shame your comrades won’t be able to dispel the genjutsu for you,” her voice wraps around him, like she’s within him.

He can’t move - he looks down to see himself imprisoned in the embrace of a rapidly growing tree.

“That’s _their_ blood on your hands, after all.”

_Magen: Jubaku Messatsu._

He screams as he’s impaled by a rain of kunai.

\---

The Oto-nin crumples to the floor, and Kurenai retrieves the three kunai embedded in the Oto-nin’s stomach. His teammates have identical wounds to her genjutsu counterparts.

“That’s always unpleasant to watch from the outside,” Asuma comments, taking down another Oto-nin with his trench knives.

“We’re not here to duel,” Kurenai says bluntly, flicking her kunai to get the excess blood off. “Unhelpful commentary aside, someone needs to get to Raido, _now_.”

\---

There’s a slight rumble under Hinata’s feet and there’s smoke clouds in the distance, beyond the village gates.

It’s started.

She takes a deep breath, and triple-checks the teams stationed around the heart of the village.

The very edge of her Byakugan range stretches to thirteen hundred metres now. There are so many faces under the ANBU masks, faces she had to scrutinise and remember and help Yuugao screen. She knows those faces. These teams are safe.

She throws open the scroll Sandaime entrusted to her, two seals in front of her marked with _ichi-dan_ and _ni-dan_. She clasps her hands together into the Ram Seal.

“ _Kai_!”

A flock of crows explode out of _ichi-dan_ , a giant spiralling cacophony of feathers and deep caws, before they scatter in all directions, dark streaks against blue sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/N: Hey, it's vocab recap time -  
>  _Gouken_ : lit. hard/strong fist - classic taijutsu used by Gai and Lee.  
>  _Usuratonkachi_ : ~~Sasuke's pet name for Naruto~~. lit. flimsy/thin hammer implying uselessness.  
>  _Magen: Jubaku Messatsu_ : Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Destruction - not made up by me, though this is a variation only seen in the games.  
>  _Kai_ : to open or release something.  
>  _Ichi-dan/ni-dan_ : 1st/2nd. Dan can mean stages/levels.
> 
> A/N: So this update is way later than I wanted, mostly because I'm well into the depths of the next part of chapter and couldn't find the right place to cut the chapter off. BUT IT WAS GETTING TOO DAMN LONG so here we are.


	32. Sarutobi Hiruzen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victories that don't feel like victories.

The crows spread like an oil spill, cloning themselves and darkening the sky, blocking the sun like a canopy of black feathers over Konohagakure. A deafening rattle of caws fill the air, dappled with the relentless beat of their wings.

Kabuto glances up, squinting at the flashes of light that manage to make it through tiny gaps between the bodies of the birds circling the sky.

It’s all very loud, conspicuous and distracting. _It only takes a second_. He returns his gaze to the stadium.

The Konoha tokujo and jounin have already formed distinct teams, using the distraction to herd and corner their enemies into smaller, manageable groups.

It’s a lot easier to kill a fish when it’s trapped in a barrel.

\---

The ground shakes as giant snakes crash through the walls of the village, and she can see with her Byakugan the crack that appears on the Sandaime’s carved face. Her fingers curl tighter around the scroll, the _ichi-dan_ seal blackened, spent.

She watches the chakra signatures of the eight ANBU teams move out, charging ahead to meet the first waves of enemy shinobi.

Iwashi leads the evacuation teams on the ground, the majority of them chuunin and more experienced genin as they obey the evacuation signal. The evacuation teams begin emptying the buildings, directing and guiding all civilians and non-combatants into the escape passages.

Hinata takes the first Soldier Pill in her pocket. She has to hold her line of sight for as long as possible.

\---

Baki creates an opening for Kankurou and Gaara to flee, with orders to regroup once Gaara has recovered.

Genma tells Sasuke to make himself useful, and Sasuke scales the arena wall to follow the Suna genin.

Shikamaru and Naruto don’t even notice Shino is already gone from the platform as they join the chaos in the stands to find their teammates.

\---

Asuma finds Raido slumped over in the Kage box, hit with paralytic gas, bleeding sluggishly from the kunai in his abdomen. “Oi, Raido, can you hear me?”

Asuma throws Raido’s arm over his shoulders, grunting under the man’s weight.

Raido makes a muffled, pained groan, and manages to crack an eye open to look at Asuma. “Sandaime-sama’s ANBU detail...are Root...I think.”

Asuma swears under his breath, glancing at the purple barrier at the uppermost gable of the stadium, where Sandaime and Orochimaru are fighting alone. “What about the ones in the stadium?”

“Sandaime-sama...chose the teams in the stadium...personally,” Raido wheezes, every word an effort against the jostling as Asuma takes them down level by level to the nearest medic station. “The...Daimyo and spectators were...priority...he knew...”

 _Gods damn it - don’t die, old man_.

For Asuma, it’s a silent prayer and an apology, all at once.

\---

The Kazekage tears the skin off his own face and it both saddens and relieves Hiruzen that it’s Orochimaru who sneers back at him from under the Kazekage’s hat. Rasa is most likely dead, and he silently laments the loss of a young man and a promising Kage.

As the barest of silver linings, at least this means that Konoha and Suna might still be able to repair their alliance if Suna realises just what has happened to their real leader once the dust settles - regardless of whether Rasa had already been under Orochimaru’s thrall when he chose to mobilise Suna’s forces to join the invasion. Or even if he had not.

At least now Orochimaru is confined inside the Purple Flames Barrier with him, which means that Orochimaru cannot focus his attacks on the rest of the village without telling his Oto shinobi to release the barrier entirely. Hiruzen knows his people are strong enough to push back against the invaders.

Indeed, Orochimaru practically did him a favour without realising, trapping him here, where the Root shinobi disguised as his ANBU detail are unable to try and assassinate him amongst the chaos. They cannot even leave him to Orochimaru’s nonexistent mercies without outing themselves as traitors to the other Konoha shinobi fighting below.

After all, how could the ANBU abandon their post, abandon their Hokage without leave? And risk exposing their true master?

No, they would stay put, and those truly loyal to Konoha would make it through this with one less obstacle.

“I knew that this day would come,” Hiruzen says to his once- _still?_ a voice in him whispers-precious student. “But you won’t be able to take my head so easily, Orochimaru.”

“You really should have named your next successor, _sensei_.” Orochimaru smiles as he tastes the blade of his kunai. “Since you’re going to die today.”

\---

Kakashi sends Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru to find and assist Sasuke.

“Recon and assist _only_ ,” Kakashi emphasizes. It’s better for the kids to not be underfoot in the stadium chaos despite the danger outside, even if Naruto is a Jinchuuriki himself. He gives Kiba a meaningful look. “Do not engage unless you absolutely have to.”

Kiba may be hot-headed on your average day, but Kiba’s the only one really aware of the danger Gaara can present if he recovers enough chakra. Between Kiba, Shikamaru and Sakura, they should be able to avoid unnecessary fights along the way. “Shikamaru is the team leader for this mission, Kiba is second in charge.”

Both Naruto and Shikamaru look ready to complain, but Sakura and Kiba unceremoniously shove them through the hole in the wall that Gai left in a Dynamic Entry, and drag them off to follow orders.

\---

Villagers start to fill the stronghold beneath her feet, the sizeable network of safe rooms built deep into the mountain behind the Hokage Rock.

A dull throb begins in her temples as she continues to screen the incoming villagers for unusual chakra signatures, and the surrounding buildings for more signs of life.

 _Thirty-four left_.

Someone enters the edge of her Byakugan field.

\---

Akamaru barks sharply from where he is tucked between Kiba’s head and the hood of his jacket.

 _Great_. There’s now a large squad of Oto-nin chasing them now as well, and Kiba gives himself a moment to acknowledge this absurd chain of pursuit. What a picture - Oto-nin chasing them chasing Sasuke chasing Gaara.

 _Okay, moment over_. “Oi, Shikamaru, we’ve got company behind us too, moving pretty damn fast.”

Shikamaru curses under his breath.

\---

A lone shinobi standing at the top of the Hokage Rock during an invasion is just a little conspicuous.

A lone shinobi that he doesn’t recognise, even though data collection on the current Konoha shinobi force has literally been his job for the last few months, is even more conspicuous.

A Henge, most likely. Spiky blue-black hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, and very blue eyes.

“Who are you?” Kabuto asks with interest.

\---

“Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!”

A giant toad drops from the sky onto one of the giant snakes lunging into another building. The ground shakes under the impact, and Ibiki is more than relieved to see Jiraiya perched atop a power pole.

Someone screams for help from inside the building.

“Move in now!” Ibiki barks the order to the evacuation team on the ground.

\---

Coming face-to-face with his long-dead teachers and predecessors is far more harrowing than he expects. Even Nidaime, the creator of the Edo Tensei, had hoped his kinjutsu would never resurface or be used again.

Hiruzen had been too optimistic, and his unwillingness to kill his own student, his unwillingness to deal with consequences that would follow - he wonders how disappointed Nidaime would be in him, if his teacher were fully cognizant of how Hiruzen had failed to prevent the destruction of the village today.

_I knew, and I pretended not to notice - the malice, the ambition in his eyes._

_It was still an era of war, and he was strong. A genius filled with potential. A once-in-a-decade genius._

_That’s why I wanted to believe that you would inherit my power, and my will._

Wood creaks around him, the work of the reanimated Shodai, and Hiruzen can only console himself with the knowledge that Orochimaru will fail to consume the soul of the village itself, the villagers, the people.

\---

The mask hides a dead man’s face. The chakra signature that glows under the man’s skin does not belong to the face behind the mask.

The real giveaway though, is that the chakra doesn’t circulate, doesn’t flow - it merely flares where needed to move the corpse.

The blankness of the man’s eyes behind the mask makes her skin crawl.

“...I am Aozaru Kouya,” she answers.

“Now that’s a lie,” says the dead man easily. “Who are you, really?”

 _Twenty-eight left_.

“That was the name given to me,” she says. Technically not a lie, as the name was given to her by Sandaime to use for her disguise.

She places the chakra signature at last, having glimpsed it once on a full-moon night.

“You are Yakushi Kabuto.”

\---

“I must say, I’m very impressed,” Kabuto says. “It took even the revered Copy Ninja Kakashi longer than that to figure it out.”

He easily dodges the kunai thrust at his back when Kouya Shunshins behind his real body, clearly not fooled by the Dead Soul technique. “But from your movement speed, you’re not even close to jounin level.”

Kouya immediately flickers away to put distance between them, stance defensive and wary. Clearly Kouya is already reaching the conclusion that Kabuto is far more dangerous than he presents himself.

Whoever Kouya is, they are clever enough to use every detail they can glean from their opponent. But what is a lower-tier shinobi doing out in the open all alone? - and in the exact meeting spot where he is supposed to meet someone from Root.

“If they weren’t practically extinct, I’d almost think you were an Uchiha. A sensor-type, perhaps?”

\---

When everything goes dark and quiet around him, except for the echoes of Orochimaru’s taunts, it’s almost a relief. Nidaime’s Genjutsu of Infinite Darkness muffles his senses, and Hiruzen wonders if dying might be like this.

However, he knows he’s not allowed to meet his end softly in the dark like this. Not as a Hokage. Not for all of his mistakes.

He certainly doesn’t deserve to.

“Enma, it’s time to finish what we started,” he tells his old friend and summon.

Enma releases the protective adamantine cage formed by the Kongou Nyoi, and Hiruzen forms the seals for the Kage Bunshin. He feels his chakra divide into three, and steels himself.

“Orochimaru, let me show you a technique even you do not know.”

His hands form the sequence for the jutsu that once saved Konoha from the Kyuubi, his Shadow Clones blocking the blows from Shodai and Nidaime.

Not for the first time, Hiruzen wonders where it all went wrong with Orochimaru. What had he done wrong, or not enough of, for Orochimaru to turn out this way. Or if nothing could have been done, and it was always going to turn out just like this.

They will have an eternity together inside the Shinigami. Perhaps he can get his answers then.

He hears the slow clink of prayer beads and the rasp of the Shinigami, a thousand voices whispering from the beyond.

There’s a ripping sensation in his chest, punching the breath out of his lungs as the Shinigami reaches through him and marks his soul for the sacrifice.

\---

The dying tend to fall in stages. Usually to their knees first, sometimes bent at the waist, sometimes caught by the elbow or a wrist before their body gives way and they lay completely on the ground.

The dying _buckle_ as they fall.

Hinata watches the reanimated corpse tip over in a smooth, continuous movement, the body stiff and unnatural, no longer supported by Kabuto’s chakra as he moves further away from it.

“...What I am does not matter.” _Twenty-three left_.

She can already see the smile on Kabuto’s face even before he removes his stolen ANBU mask. “Of course it matters,” he says.

Kabuto suddenly appears in front of her, faster than her own teacher.

It’s only the pure reflex to dodge from sparring with Hayate that saves her from being disemboweled as she throws herself backwards, concentrating all her chakra towards her feet.

Her left arm shakes violently, blood weeping from the open gash, soaking into the ground as she skids to a stop. The split-second lapse in concentration forces her to re-identify the remaining villagers that haven’t made it into one of the tunnels.

“See, if you were an Uchiha, I would just kill you,” Kabuto says lightly, twirling the bloodied kunai in his hand, in absolutely no hurry. “Because I don’t care to have my techniques stolen by the Sharingan. Who you are, determines how you die.”

Hinata can hear the rush of blood like a low roar in her ears, every fluttering thump of her heartbeat like a hammer beating nails into the back of her eyes, throbbing from the unrelenting dual focus with her Byakugan.

More enemies are gaining ground towards the heart of the village.

 _Seventeen, no - eighteen left_.

She considers her options. Even if she takes her remaining Soldier Pill to fight him, she won’t win and she’s going to need it to flee once she’s satisfied her duties here. Sandaime has given her leave to regroup with her team once the evacuations are complete.

She can examine the reasons of why he’s choosing to toy with an easy kill than to assist the Suna and Oto-nin attacking the village, even though his allegiances are clearly not with Konoha, later.

As long as she can live long enough to finish what she started.

\---

Another villager is herded into the tunnels, and Tokara stares up at the skies, waiting for the signal.

Hayate cuts down another group of Oto-nin, a sword in each hand. There are far fewer casualties than anticipated, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

“Are we still waiting for more evacuation teams? We’ve lost radio comms with the Academy Team and Block B Teams!”

\---

Akamaru barks again.

“Hey, we have _another_ bogey chasing us,” Kiba warns.

Shikamaru inhales sharply through his nose. “That makes, what, ten Oto-nin after us?”

Kiba opens his mouth slightly, tasting the air as he breathes in with the Shikyaku no Jutsu. The wind is mild, but blows at them from behind, carrying the scent towards them. “No. There’s the Oto squad of eight, then another one behind them following at a similar pace. The tenth one is really far behind. I don’t think the tenth one is part of the group at all.”

“Can you tell if that last guy is an ally or not?” Sakura asks.

Kiba shakes his head. “I wouldn’t be able to scent them at all if we weren’t downwind. They’re too far away to get the specifics.”

“Nine Oto-nin and an unknown. The Oto-nin will definitely be chuunin-level or higher,” Shikamaru taps the side of his leg, thinking, as they move through the forest. “I think I have a plan.”

\---

Hinata catches another kunai slash with her shoulder and bites back a hiss of pain.

Her energy reserves are diminishing rapidly with every chakra-enhanced leap, every Shunshin to dodge. All the glittering chakra signatures become steadily more blurred, fraying at the edges as her Byakugan sacrifices detail to maintain her range of sight.

“Am I boring you?” Kabuto asks, unnervingly cheerful. “You seem distracted.”

 _Eleven left_.

“You really must be a sensor-type,” he says consideringly. “Despite your lack of mastery over it, sensor-types are rare enough that Orochimaru-sama would enjoy another subject to experiment on.”

He cleans the blade of the kunai and puts it away, the motion neat and precise. Instant, icy fear grips her right in the stomach. Absolutely nothing good could come of her being captured, and her immediate, knee-jerk thought is that she’d rather be sliced open over and over by Kabuto’s kunai than be at the eye of that particular storm once the Hyuuga get involved.

Or the aftermath. _Especially_ the aftermath.

“I don’t think you want to do that,” she finally speaks.

 _Nine left_.

Kabuto may not be wearing a stolen mask anymore, but the constant smile on his face is like a mask of its own.

The intrigue on his face though, when she finally breaks her silence, is genuine. “And why not?” Kabuto asks.

 _Six left_.

Hinata hesitates for a before pushing on, releasing the Henge. She stares back at him with her real face, controlling her breathing to quiet the fluttering pulse of unease in her chest. She can’t quite feel the tips of her fingers, and she’s not sure if it’s fear, or if what she’s about to say turns her stomach.

“You won’t get far. Not with the Hyuuga after you.”

\---

Kabuto is not arrogant enough to think that he is above being surprised anymore - after all, he had certainly underestimated Uzumaki Naruto during the first two stages of the Chuunin Exams. No, he could admit that he had taken the mediocre stats recorded about Hyuuga Hinata at face value during his investigations.

The Hyuuga are natural sensor-types, the ability to recognise different chakras encoded into their bloodline. He’s gone through most of the registration records of the Hyuuga, and most of their known sight ranges fall somewhere between fifty to maybe five hundred metres for the more seasoned shinobi at the peak of their careers.

Kabuto recalls what he knows about Hyuuga Neji, hailed as a rare Hyuuga talent for his age. Most likely for his swift mastery of the juuken and ability to see the tenketsu, since the boy’s range had to be fairly average - otherwise he would have seen all the Oto plants amongst the spectators in the arena.

“No wonder you saw through my decoy.” Kabuto pushes his glasses up his nose. “You are the little ghost from the rooftop that night.”

He probably should kill her where she stands, but Kabuto has never had any interest in this farce of an invasion. Kabuto’s mission was to gather information, and Orochimaru likes to test Kabuto’s loyalties all the time for his own amusement. Lack of specific instructions means Orochimaru can’t blame Kabuto for interpreting them however he likes.

After all, his goals are not quite the same as Orochimaru’s, only that their respective goals take them down similar paths.

Sadly, she isn’t wrong about the Hyuuga coming after them relentlessly if he gave in to his curiosity about the Byakugan. It’s not impossible to beat a Hyuuga, but it would be a waste of energy and resources to pick a fight with the entire clan. The Hyuuga didn’t prosper in an age of bloodline limits going extinct left and right for nothing.

And she might be of use to his plans one day.

He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out one of his Ninja Info Cards, channeling his chakra into it.

\---

“I’m going to let you go today.”

Hinata stares at him in confusion, and Kabuto’s smile widens.

“I won’t even attack the last of your evacuations,” he adds, sending a chill down Hinata’s spine. “I was wondering why there was not a single civilian casualty on my way here, and then I realised, all the ANBU are out here, fighting. Sandaime-sama has scared off all my business here.”

The steady stream of chakra flowing out of his fingers stops, and he tosses the orange and black card at her. She doesn’t catch it out of the air, maintaining a pool of chakra at her feet to evade if she needs to.

 _Two_.

The card flutters softly to the ground at her feet, and she remembers seeing Kabuto using them to strike up conversations with other genin during the written stage of the Chuunin Exams.

She doesn’t need to look down in order to pick it up when she is reasonably certain it won’t explode in her face.

 _One_.

“I will claim a favour in return in the future,” Kabuto says, picking up his stolen ANBU mask again, “Hyuuga Hinata.”

Kabuto disappears in a cloud of smoke, a flash of chakra as he leaves the field of her Byakugan.

Hinata drops to her hands and knees, clammy with sweat, and pulls open her scroll again. She hurriedly unlocks the second seal that reads _ni-dan_ , watching the inscriptions of the seal crackle with stored chakra.

She hears rather than sees the crows that circle the skies above Konoha beginning to disappear in a cascade of smoke. A flock of hawks burst out of the seal, their cries familiar and recognisable. Her task is done.

Riddled with self-loathing, she hunches over and gags on an empty stomach, still clutching the card.

Her fingers are still numb, streaked with her own blood.

\---

The piercing cry of the summoned hawks is the signal.

They are spread across the heart of Konoha. Two teams. One of four, aligned with the four directions. One of five, aligned as five elements. Overlaid together and perfectly equidistant with the Hokage Rock stronghold as its centre.

Tokara raises his staff, and in unison, the Barrier Teams release chakra into the lines of their formation. Chakra ripples between Barrier Team members in waves that break against each other, crashing and pooling into a glowing dome of light. Then the chakra defines itself, weaves and stretches, pulling taut like a net until every evacuation entry, every passageway, and the saferooms are within its boundaries.

\---

“Now!” Gazeru shouts, leading the counterattack with twelve teams. They’ve borrowed the lands of the Inuzuka and the Nara clans to keep themselves hidden until the signal, lying in wait at a distance from outside the village.

Her teams immediately fan out to cover more territory, preventing the enemy shinobi from retreating when they realise they’re surrounded by Konoha forces both within and outside of the village. Trapped and outnumbered.

The blade of her sword sings as she cuts down two Oto-nin in her path.

Akimichi Doutou goes big, taller than a two-storey house, and mows down a group of Oto-nin with his heavy steel bo.

Inuzuka Gaku and Kimaru rip up a platoon of Suna-nin with their Gatenga, plowing through them like blade saw, leaving blood and churned up dirt in their wake.

Without potential hostages to worry about, the Konoha shinobi no longer need to hold back.

\---

“Hurry up and die, you old geezer,” Orochimaru hisses at him, but they can both hear the rising panic in his insults.

Pain shoots through his body with every breath, and even at the cusp of death, he’s still trying to navigate an impasse. He can feel his chakra fading fast, trying to extract Orochimaru’s soul from his body. But Orochimaru is younger, and Orochimaru’s will, despite how twisted his morality, is far too tenacious to give in without a fight.

At least he no longer needs to fight Shodai and Nidaime. His teachers have been sealed away within the Shinigami through his clones, and soon he'll need to join them.

Trickles of his blood slide down his stomach from where Orochimaru's Kusanagi is impaled in his chest, and Hiruzen tastes copper in his mouth. He can hear his breath, loud and erratic against the thrum of his heartbeat, and the laboured pulse of his heart against his ribs as his blood wells up around the blade.

Orochimaru will slip free yet again, and Hiruzen rather wants to laugh, that his student will continue to thwart him right to the end. He can hear Enma struggling against the seething mass of snakes holding his friend and summon down.

He coughs up the pooling blood in his mouth, and makes a decision.

“I don’t have enough power to take your soul, but I will take away what you value almost as much as your life.”

Using every last bit of chakra he can still muster, he pulls Orochimaru’s soul further outwards, and the Shinigami’s blade falls between them, severing Orochimaru’s arms from the rest of his soul.

Even after everything, he doesn’t rejoice in the sound of Orochimaru’s cry of agony and outrage.

“It’s too bad,” Hiruzen rasps. “I should have killed you a long time ago. You and _him_.”

The seal locks, and Hiruzen consoles himself that he’s taking part of Orochimaru with him to the purgatory of the Shinigami’s belly. “But your ambition ends here.”

His legs give way and his vision goes dark at the edges. Orochimaru is shouting, screaming at him, eyes bloodshot and wide with brilliant fury. Hiruzen hears none of it - he’s so tired, and he feels like he’s falling into a bed of cotton.

The last thing he sees is Orochimaru, but younger. Purer. Kinder. If he sheds one last tear for his most beloved student, no one will ever know.

 _The future is in the hands of the young_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As usual, pretty much all the jutsu that appear in in this chapter are canon. Except the unnamed Barrier Team jutsu I describe. New named characters also exist in anime/manga canon. Tokara is the remaining member of Hayate's genin team as per canon, though his character and powers are a blank state so I'm going to enjoy fleshing him out a little.
> 
> Not the happiest with this chapter, but if I don't keep plowing on, this fic will stay stuck in limbo. If anything confuses you, let me know and I can clarify if it doesn't spoil anything.
> 
> I'll miss writing Hiruzen's POV. Hinata has so much to unpack after the invasion.


	33. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those that are left behind.

The sky is dark, clouds the colour of ash and heavy.

It’s going to rain.

Hinata still keeps the blueprints in her pocket, carefully wrapped.

The Amagiyoshino sakura trees are fruiting, branches full and lush with green leaves, framing the bright red cherries like nothing had ever happened. The fruit is perfect, unmarred by birds, or even insects. Nothing ever visits the inner garden besides the Hyuuga.

 _Even nature is afraid of the Hyuuga_ , she thinks to herself numbly.

Sandaime died for Konoha, gave his life in service, and she used the Hyuuga name to save her own life.

She is sickened by herself.

\---

There are fewer casualties than expected, but that doesn’t mean there aren't any.

Framed photographs of the shinobi that died in the line of duty are propped up against a slanted block, draped in mourning white. The wind blows gently at the lit braziers framing the platform of the fallen, fanning the quiet crackle of the flames.

Ebisu and Iruka flank Konohamaru, protecting him from well-meaning but unwanted offers of condolences for his loss.

Because Konohamaru had not only lost his grandfather, but his father and mother, all in the same day. More than one ANBU had died fighting the invasion.

Asuma wonders when was the last time he had spoken with his brother, his sister-in-law. His eyes water and he blames it on the smoke of the braziers being blown in his direction.

Listening to Konohamaru trying to hold in his sobs is so much worse than if Konohamaru had broken down into a full on howl.

Asuma has never craved a smoke so badly in his life, and he grips Kurenai’s hand in his like she’s the only thing holding him upright.

\---

Unlike most of her yearmates, Sakura comes from a long line of civilians. At the Academy, she was so jealous of her peers, so jealous of Ino, for getting that precious headstart in almost all aspects of being a shinobi. How lucky, how grand, to be part of a clan with techniques passed down for generations, to be known for something.

After the dust settled, and bodies counted and identified, the Council had reported that there was not a single civilian casualty, thanks to Sandaime’s preemptive planning. Another legacy to add to the man once called The Professor.

She’s read enough history books about shinobi, about the Great Shinobi Wars, to know that this is remarkable, a miracle in itself. Compared to history, their losses in this attempted invasion are practically negligible. In books, in tests, casualties are just numbers to remember.

But the rows of photographs lined up on the platform are confronting. The deep, palpable grief of those who lost someone is sobering.

She clutches the white chrysanthemum tight in her hand, and is suddenly, dizzyingly glad that her parents never became shinobi.

\---

A sea of white forms on the platform as flower upon flower is laid in front of the portraits of the fallen.

Kiba cups his hand over his nose to give himself a break from the weight of all the emotions everyone is giving off. His jaw throbs, still purple from Sasuke’s punch for stopping him from fighting Gaara like the damned moron he is. Akamaru nuzzles his face.

Hinata is still not here, even though most of the Hyuuga clan have turned up to pay their respects to the Sandaime and two of their fallen Branch.

There’s enough people now, that it gives him an excuse to lean in closer against Shino, breathing in the scent of freshly turned earth and ozone that the kikaichuu give off, mingled with Shino’s own scent. Shino doesn’t move, merely relaxes his shoulders just enough to bump against Kiba’s as they wait their turn.

Shino’s scent is like taking the first breath out of the water, a respite in the miasma of grief and survivor’s guilt and pain in the air. Something twists inside Kiba to know how close he was to losing Shino. If they hadn’t found him in time, if Shino’s dad hadn’t caught up with them in time.

Shino’s always been the strongest of their Team 8. The rock, the untouchable, the crazy strong one.

The Inuzuka are close to nature and they are no stranger to death, but Kiba doesn’t know if he could bear it at all well if one of the portraits sitting in the sea of white had been Shino’s.

\---

Fat drops of rain dapple the ground, and Hinata shivers even though it’s not cold at all.

What is she even doing here?

She hugs her knees as she sits on the raised step outside the empty Hokage Residence, listening to the rain patter against the awning.

It’s been three days since Konoha successfully fought back the invasion, and Hinata feels like she’s been untethered, floating aimlessly the whole time.

She hadn’t been able to regroup with her team during the fight - instead, she had been uselessly drowning in being confronted with the reality that the only reason she was still alive to live another day was because of something she had no choice in at all.

A Hyuuga, always a Hyuuga to everyone else. But never good enough as a Hyuuga.

 _Unworthy, weak_. Just an empty Hyuuga-shaped shell and nobody at all.

By the time she had picked herself up enough to go and find out where the rest of her team was, Orochimaru had already begun to flee with his subordinates.

On the rooftop, the slowly disintegrating remains of the two Oto genin had been left behind, the leftovers of Orochimaru’s sacrifices to the Edo Tensei. The other Oto-nin and Suna-nin realised that they had been abandoned, the real Kazekage nowhere to be found, and either surrendered or fled as well. Some continued to fight to the death, but not many.

Hinata hadn’t been able to get close to Sandaime’s body, but she didn’t need to be close, just close enough with the Byakugan.

Sandaime had died with a smile on his face.

“Hinata?”

She looks up with a jolt and sees Yuugao. Yuugao’s eyes are soft, unbothered by the light rain getting on her hair.

“...Yuugao-san.”

\---

“...Jiraiya-sensei.”

Jiraiya doesn’t look up, instead lifts his hand in a half-wave to acknowledge Hayate’s presence.

“You will not be attending Sandaime-sama’s funeral then?” Hayate asks, as they both look out onto the empty training ground.

“Best not,” Jiraiya says, gaze distant. “Too much attention on me instead of where it belongs.”

It isn’t a boast - as one of the Legendary Sannin, his presence would draw attention away from the fallen. Especially without a named Godaime Hokage in the wings, too many eyes would be on Jiraiya, either calculatingly or hopefully.

“I’m sorry,” Hayate says, sincerely.

Hayate knows Jiraiya would never say it, preferring to lick his wounds quietly and behind glib flirtations and jokes. He knows Jiraiya mourns not just the loss of Sandaime the Hokage, of Sarutobi Hiruzen his teacher, but also the loss of any shreds of hope that there was anything still salvageable for the man that was once his teammate and best friend.

\---

Yuugao knows the haunted look on Hinata’s face all too well. Has seen it so many times in the mirror for so many years, for herself, for Hayate, that sometimes she’s surprised her face doesn’t just stay frozen that way. She had survived, and it was how she had survived that caught the attention of the ANBU recruiters all those years ago.

“It’s okay,” she says, keeping her arm loose and gentle around Hinata’s shoulders in case Hinata needs to pull away, if touch - if comfort - is unbearable right now.

Hinata doesn’t pull away, and Yuugao sighs quietly into Hinata’s hair against the sound of the raindrops.

“It’s okay to choose to live.”

They don’t make it in time for the funeral rites, but they mourn their losses in the rain all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~That survivor's guilt, y'all.~~
> 
> A/N: Hinata's never-ending struggle with the albatross of the Hyuuga around her neck. Throwing herself into the protection of the Hyuuga with Hayate on her back, sure, no hesitation. I'm pretty sure she'd grovel on her hands and knees if it meant saving Hayate. But for herself? NOPE.
> 
> Also I am ignoring the part in canon that says Sakura's parents were shinobi in case you went wandering in the Narutopedia.


End file.
